Lost Magic
by Serpent Tailed Angel
Summary: When Jellal messes up an ancient spell he finds himself pregnant with Erza's child. And to make matters worse, when her friends find out, he has to live with her. Pre Tower of Heaven. Mpreg, obviously.
1. Chapter 1

What is this? My like, 3rd mpreg?

…

Actually, it's my 7th if you count the ones on my old account. Gods, I'm a horrible addict.

Post Phantom Lord

Pre Tower of Paradise

Don't care if Loke's secret's been revealed yet or not. May decide later in the story. Maybe he won't even show up.

**Chapter 1**

Jellal sighed and rubbed his temples, trying his hardest to drown out the lecture he was receiving as Siegrain. It would be just his luck that he needed to work with a bunch of old fogies to get the magic needed for the R-system. Holding two conversations at once, especially two that were so drastically different, was giving him a headache. He wished the old man would just shut up already.

"What was that?" Yajima's lecture had made him miss something Vithaldas had been saying

"I said that the towers-"

"_Lost magic was lost for a reason, Sieg. There can be dire consequences from using it_"

"-and if it isn't fixed soon it could result in serious consequences."

Giving up, Jellal waved Vithhaldas away "Then go fix it. I'm not stopping you"

"We…" Vithaldas cut off whatever he'd been about to say and nodded "Very well"

With the idiot gone, Jellal sat back in his chair and shut his eyes, focusing more on Yajima way over in Era. If he acted more attentive, the lecture would probably be shorter.

"_You need to act more responsible. There'd be no end to the trouble we'd have if you awaken some particularly nasty spell that people went through all the trouble to make sure no one else would learn."_

"_No one went through all the trouble to make sure no one else would learn a spell if someone else learns it" Siegrain replied smoothly "I'm not doing anything dangerous. I'm just reading a few dusty old books"_

"_Most of what you're reading is in one dead language or another!" Yajima exclaimed "It would only take one simple mistranslation to blow up the capital!"_

"_Relax, I won't mistranslate anything" Siegrain gave his most convincing smile "I have no intentions of using any of these spells. I'm just a little curious about lost magic right now"_

_Yajima wasn't fooled by the smile "How long have you been practicing these languages?"_

_Maybe a year. Maybe less. "I'm not going to cast any of these spells. Don't worry"_

_Yajima's expression showed he was __**very**__ worried, but he seemed to give up at this point "Just don't go casting anything in those scrolls"_

"_I won't"_

Jellal sighed as the old coot left. He kept his eyes closed, as it was much easier to only deal with one image at a time. He drunk in all the information Siegrain translated from the scrolls, completely wiping the lecture from his memory. There had to be something useful. A particularly nasty spell that could wipe out any enemies in his path, or maybe something to speed up the final touches on the tower.

_Siegrain snorted and tossed the scroll aside, pulling up the next one and starting his translations on it. He couldn't gain easy access to forbidden magic, so lost magic would have to do. There had to be __**something**__ worth wile amongst all the dusty rolled up scraps of paper._

_Finally, he returned the scrolls to their shelves, setting the ones he thought might be useful aside so he could return to work on them tomorrow._

Jellal opened his eyes and got up, groaning as he realized how stiff he'd become. How long had he just been sitting their? Why had no one come and seen him the whole time?

"Just my luck…" he muttered.

XXXXX

"Where's Siegrain?" Rage asked, looking around "I'm not too surprised that he'd skip a meeting, but still…"

"Siegrain-sama isn't feeling well" Ultear said "He'll return as soon as he's better" It took all her self control not to laugh. She'd received a message only a minute before the meeting informing her that Jellal had simply overslept, she suspected it was from spending most of the night looking at lost magic. She'd cover for him though "We have more important things to discus than common colds, though." No one would have been surprised if a common cold was all it took to keep Sieg **or** Ultear from coming "Why was this meeting called?"

Beluno began to speak "In light of the string of crimes in the surrounding area, I sent out a request for help. We don't have enough time to manage guild and deal with petty criminals ourselves."

"That's it?"

"Ah, no. The request… it… it was answered by Fairy Tail."

Ultear's self control wasn't great enough to keep her from laughing at this. Yajima's silencing look was ignored by her. Beluno sighed and continued "I, for one, do not think I could deal with any destruction they might cause here. I believe the wisest decision would be to cancel the request, but that would require three or more votes from the council"

"Nah, let 'em come" Everyone jumped and looked to the door, where Siegrain was entering looking like he'd just dragged himself out of bed "This could be fun."

"But-"

"It's not like it'll make a difference to the public if they tear up a road here or wreck a bridge on the other side of the country. Besides, this way it's easier t' monitor them"

"You look like you got in a fight with a ten foot tall stray cat on the way here" Ultear informed Sieg as he sat down "Are you sure you're alright to come?"

"Meh" was all the reply she got. Siegrain's vocabulary had hit an all time low.

Over in Kaelum, Jellal was feeling just as bad as Siegrain looked.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I'm doing it! I'm writing for another fandom! Actually the reason I created this account was cause I felt weird having stories from more than one… story… on an account. I made "Rune Caster" to write Zelda stuff. But look! Now I have Zelda stuff **and** a Fairy Tail story! Plus, I'm the first writer on to do a Fairy Tail mpreg. Yes! Watch, now no one will read it, and, following that idea, no one will read this little authors note.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Jellal, you haven't gotten out of bed for two days. Are you alright?"

"Fine" Jellal hissed "Get out of my room"

Vithaldas scowled and left, grumbling something incoherent. Jellal decided that he didn't really **want** to know what the psycho was saying and rolled over. It was one of _those_ periods again. Those points when he couldn't hear Zeref. When he wanted to just puke when he thought about what he was doing, then a second later he wouldn't be able to believe he'd felt that way. He'd never bothered to keep track of how often he'd hit a few days where he constantly flickered back and forth between those two mentalities, but he was pretty sure they were becoming more frequent.

Finally, forcing himself to be productive in some way, he focused on Siegrain.

"_Got in another fight with that giant cat today?" Ultear asked, clearly amused with her fairly crappy joke._

"_Fairy Tail arrives today, don't they?" Sieg asked, ignoring Ultear and looking out the window "What do you think they'll wreck?"_

"_If they're smart, nothing. So, probably the building we hold our meetings in"_

_There was a distinct possibility of that…_

XXXXX

Lucy looked up at the large building in awe "So this is where the council handles all the issues brought to it, huh?"

"I heard their last issue was that we took this job" Happy told her

"I wouldn't be too surprised…" Lucy looked over her shoulder at Natsu, who was running by with Gray's shirt in his mouth while Erza chased the dragon idiot and half naked man down the street with a sword out "…I'm happy to be on a team with them, but I wish they could act **normal**"

"What's not normal about how we act?" Happy asked.

"You talk. You grow wings. And you think most people can-"

"STOP THAT!" everyone on the street flinched as someone's voice echoed down from the council hall "IF YOU'RE GOING TO HANDLE THE CRIMES HERE THEN GO AHEAD, BUT DON'T ADD TO THEM!"

Lucy sighed "I have a feeling I'll have gone to jail at least twice before this job is over."

"Because you made the council angry already?" Happy asked

"Because **they**-" Lucy jabbed a finger in Natsu and Gray's direction "-are going to get me caught up in something I didn't do"

"Lucy, you're always the trouble maker"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE AT ALL"

XXXXX

Siegrain sighed. Listening in on their conversation was giving him/Jellal a headache. He'd known Fairy Tail had a reputation for making little sense. He'd even dealt with several members before, but never multiple loonies at once.

Why had Gray now removed his pants too?

Why had Natsu burned the pants?

Why had Erza only hit him **once** before leaving?

Why weren't Lucy and the cat doing anything to stop the chaos going on in front of them?

Why was Lucy even talking to the cat?

Why was the cat blue?

"Don't think about it too much, Jellal" Ultear advised "You'll give yourself a headache"

"To late" Siegrain said "I'm going down there to see if I can make more sense of this"

"You'll let them see you?"

"No" Siegrain snorted "But that doesn't mean I can't get closer to watch them"

"Well, just in case anyone else sees you…" Ultear paused, getting Siegrain to look back at her "Straighten your collar, **brush** your hair, and try not to let those bags under your eyes show. It's almost hard to see your dumb tattoos"

Siegrain sneered at her and left.

XXXXX

"I got us a hotel room" Lucy said bending over Natsu and Gray's broken bodies. She didn't know what they'd done while she was looking for a hotel that had made Erza beat them up so badly, but it must have had something to do with the fact that Gray was now using Natsu's scarf like a loin cloth "It's the large white building next to the shopping district. We're on the second floor. Room 32. Do you remember all that?"

Natsu gave some sort of groan.

"I'm going to see if they have any powerful gatekeys at the magic store here. Where'd Erza go?"

"Re…search…" Gray said

"Alright. Happy, want to come with me?"

Happy enthusiastically hopped off Natsu to Lucy's side "We're going to get fish!"

"No. Gatekeys"

"Gate fish" Happy concluded, following Lucy down the street.

XXXXX

"You shouldn't be up late like this" Ultear advised "You're projections are getting bad enough as it is. If you keep pushing yourself you'll end up unable to attend meetings again. The council is already curious about what you're up to without you vanishing on us"

Siegrain frown "Erza's an important part of the plan, and I've taken an interest in Natsu. I think it's a risk worth taking to watch them."

"So this is where Erza figured the bandits are hiding. Makes sense. If I'd bothered to think about it I could have figured it out" Ultear smirked "How far the council's fallen to ask for help on such a simple task. They didn't notice those old scrolls disappearing either. Did you take them to the tower?"

"Hush. Someone's here" Siegrain narrowed his eyes at the door as it opened. Three people slipped in, but they weren't part of Fairy Tail. They had to be the trouble makers. Or, the trouble makers that weren't public about everything they did wrong (AKA Natsu), at least. Throughout the night, more people showed up, but not anyone note worthy.

Jellal's exhaustion was becoming a little unbearable. Siegrain was about to just vanish and let Ultear deal with sneaking out on her own (she'd stand out less than an almost freakishly tall blue haired teenager anyway) when a wall exploded.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" Natsu roared.

Siegrain stifled a laugh as Lucy began scolding Natsu about the damage he'd already done.

Erza charged in with a sword in each hand and began to go berserk on the people inside. Gray followed quickly after, but was too late to get in on the action. By the time he was actually in the room all but three of the twenty some men in the room, the first three to show up, were still standing.

"Fairy Tail?" one of them asked.

"I heard the council hired them for something" Another hissed, putting his hands together and shooting a ball of fire at Gray. Natsu happily jumped in front to eat it.

"Hm… so he's Salamander. And the blond girl must be the Tatiana I've heard so much about"

"Me?" Lucy asked, shocked

"Well, I know what'll get 'em" The one on the left made a swiping motion. The fallen men glowed a faint green and got up, piling onto Erza until she couldn't get up with their weight on her.

Siegrain/Jellal got a tightening feeling in his chest and clenched his fist. Letting out a soft growl, Siegrain pointed at the man who'd cast the last spell and hissed a few words under his breath. One small explosion later and the man was in a coma on the other side of the room.

"That was rash" Ultear told him "You know she won't die from having a few carcasses pile up on her."

"I-" Siegrain stopped himself when he realized how loud his voice was. He/Jellal took a deep breath and started again "I don't approve of that sort of magic"

"Yet you're trying to revive Zeref" There was an I-know-what-you're-trying-to-hide-cuzz-your-making-it-to-damn-obvious look in her eyes.

Siegrain just frown at her and returned to watching the battle. Natsu had knocked out the one who'd thrown fire at Gray, and some sort of perverted cow was attempting to make Lucy undress while swinging an ax at the last man. Sieg/Jellal had to admit it was an interesting multitasking to attempt. Gray seemed to have been knocked out by the explosion he'd created. Erza was struggling to get out from under the pill of limp bodies on top of her.

Glancing at Ultear to make sure she wasn't watching him at the moment, Siegrain pointed at Erza and focused. He remembered a spell from the scrolls that would give a person the repulsion that would free Erza from the pileup. How had it gone…?

Siegrain/Jellal snapped back in to the mentality that Erza was going to be his sacrifice. On second thought, why risk screwing up a spell he wasn't sure he'd translated right just for her convenience? She'd scorned him and his freedom, after all.

He snapped into the 'Killing to revive a killer is beyond wrong' mentality again and cast the spell quickly before he could change his way of thinking yet again.

Big, **huge**, **MASSIVE** mistake. The room, as well as the one Jellal was in back at his tower where he'd technically cast the spell, filled with a series of near blinding blue and red lights. Two colors that weren't very complementary.

Erza screamed. In his tower, Jellal screamed. Siegrain grimaced, but otherwise managed not to reflect any of the pain he/Jellal felt through the link that allowed him to exist.

When the lights faded, he could see the murderous glare on Ultear's face all too clearly "No. More. Magic" she hissed venomously through clenched teeth.

Siegrain gave a sort of gurgled reply. He/Jellal suddenly felt to weary to form actual words.

If Natsu had noticed the lights, and there was a chance he hadn't even though Lucy was freaking out about them, he didn't show it. Instead, he charged at the last man and knocked him and the perverted cow out in one blow. Summoning the strength to speak, Siegrain said "Well, the actions over. Looks like it's time to go".

Before vanishing, he saw Natsu continue his rampage, destroying another wall and sending chunks of it flying everywhere. One barely missing him and another colliding with Ultear. It vaguely occurred to him that once the council saw this there'd either be a massive and hilarious scandal where they assumed Ultear was involved in the crimes, or a massive and hilarious case against Fairy Tail for assaulting a council member.

Finally, at his limit, he faded away.

In the tower, Jellal collapsed from exhaustion. He **loathed** casting spells from far away.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Wheeeeeeeeee. I really like Erza/Jellal so that's what this is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Jellal, this is the third time this month you've refused to get out of bed"

"Really? Well good for me. Now scram" Jellal hissed, pointing at Vithaldas "I don't have the patients to put up with you today"

"Speaking of patients…" Vithaldas shifted, wondering how the sorcerer would take it "I think you ought to see a doctor" He was hit in the face with a pillow.

"I'm **fine**."

"You spent all morning vomiting" Jellal responded by rolling over in bed so that his back was to the psycho that had, somehow, ended up being his right hand man. "Jellal, the plan won't work if you're too sick to execute it. You could have the flu, or this may be some sort of magic backlash, or a-"

"Is something wrong?" Sho poked his head in "Jellal, we need your help with-"

"Jellal isn't going anywhere" Vithaldas snapped "He's going to stay in bed until he's better"

"Weren't you just hammering me for not getting out of bed?" Jellal asked. His voice held a hint of amusement usually reserved for talking about the Fairy Tail guild with members of the council.

Members of council…?

There was a meeting today!

Jellal sat up and looked around for a clock. Giving up on this after a few impatient seconds, he turned and pointed at Vithaldas "You, scram" then to Sho "You send a message to Ultear. Tell her I'm not feeling well, and, if she still cares, have her cover up for my absence at an event taking place today"

"O-okay" Sho hurried off to find some way to carry the message.

Now, in the world, there were three types of people. The most common being the follower, which Sho was. And the next most likely being the leader, a roll Jellal had been born with the ability to handle with unnatural ease. The least common had no simple name. But it could be described as not only not wanting to lead but picking someone to lead them, and ignoring their orders. Please not that this isn't not being a follower, just following and not taking orders. This was the type of person Vithaldas was. He folded his arms and scowled "Scram? Or what? You'll sneeze on me? Throw another pillow?"

Jellal growled and flopped over on his bed "Don't push me…"

"A wizard's powers weakened when he's ill. You can't threaten me with-" Whatever he'd planed to finish the sentence with, it didn't come out. In a flash of light, Jellal was out of his bed and pining Vithaldas to his wall.

"I said…" Jellal released him and kicked him out the door at the same speed he'd moved at to reach the rock obsessed mage "SCRAM!"

"y..es… Je….ral…" was heard faintly outside the room. Along with the sound of walls cracking. Looked like the completion of the tower would be postponed for some repairs.

As he shut, and locked, the door to his room he thought he heard Ikaruga laughing at Vithaldas. With the issue of security taken care of, and his energy spent on the small amount of magic he'd used, Jellal stumbled back over to his bed and collapsed.

XXXXX

"It was nice of Ultear to not press charges for you knocking her out"

Lucy chose not to point out to Natsu that he was the one who'd knocked her out, having given up on such things with him "Yeah, sure. Try to be less reckless while we're in city areas."

"It was weird that she was watching, though" Erza said "I wonder if the whole thing was just some sort of entertainment for the council"

"Ultear and Siegrain have a reputation for being less serious members of the council." Happy said "They might have thought of it as a show, but the other members probably thought themselves to busy or important to handle small bandits"

"Siegrain?" Erza spun around and stared Happy down "He was there too?"

"We wouldn't know" Lucy pointed out "Ultear never said anything to imply whether or not she'd been alone, and they didn't find him unconscious there, but he could have just left"

"And left Ultear behind unconscious?" Gray asked "No one does something like that"

"He might have left before she got knocked out"

"He would have watched the **whole** thing and **laughed**" Erza said bitterly "The evil little-"

"Erza, do you have some sort of relationship with Siegrain?" Happy interrupted

Erza scowled, opened her mouth to speak, shut it, and looked away before finally muttering a bitter "No"

It was the least convincing thing to ever leave her mouth.

Lucy cast her a suspicious look, but it was overlooked due to the suspicious sudden disappearance or Natsu and Gray.

After several minutes of frantic searching, their absence was deemed "unimportant unless something in the near future explodes" and Erza and Lucy returned to the guild.

"Hey!" Mirajane greeted them right away, as always "I heard you knocked out a member of the council." Makarov, who'd been drinking something that was probably tea, spat it out and looked up at them in horror.

"She got hit by a piece of wall Natsu broke" Lucy sighed "He's so reckless. They didn't make a huge stink out of it, though. Ultear said it was her fault for deciding to watch us handle the job."

Makarov had the look of a man who expected to be murdered in his sleep very soon. Or at least going out with a "arrested as a high time criminal" bang rather than the preferred "remembered as a great person who helped many and was loved by all" type. Mirajane set to cheering him up while Lucy set to looking for a job to do on her own so she could afford her rent without worrying about compensation fees that Natsu might get her charged with. In the meantime Erza had chosen to busy herself with bossing the other members around, clearly over whatever trauma might have come from being under a pile of half-dead bodies. Not that Lucy was surprised. Erza was much better at inflicting trauma on others than being affected by it.

"I think your team needs to split up" Makarov said finally

"Master, Natsu does just as much damage now as he used to" Mira pointed out "The most splitting them up will do is prevent them from taking on more difficult tasks"

This news was not taken well.

While Makarov went to a corner to go sulk, Erza returned to help Lucy catch Mirajane up on their latest adventure, completely unaware of the fact that the gears had been set in motion to lead her back to her childhood friend in the most unpleasant of ways, and that, in an alternate universe, someone was foreshadowing her future.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I don't do foreshadowing often, so when I realized I was, I decided to do something about it.

Doing Jellal is kind of tricky. I'm trying to get something resembling his good, original personality, while at the same time maintaining a villain attitude. It's **not** easy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was funny, Jellal reflected, how a single word could have so much gravity. Looking out the window, he sighed at the sight of the rather boring ocean. Some people called it beautiful, but for Jellal, who grew up seeing it every day, it turned out to always be the same. Always blue, and wavy, and usually you couldn't see anything in the distance either. Even when you could, it was either motionless, or moving so slow that it wasn't worth watching.

The boat rocked violently and he leaned over and threw up into a bucket. After a week and a half of rather violent illness he'd caved and gone to the mainland in order to seek out treatment. Now eight different doctors were on his list of 'people to make sure go first when Zeref is revived' for all giving him the same ridiculous diagnosis.

"Pregnant" he scoffed "Men don't get pregnant" none of those so called professionals had any idea what they were talking about. Men didn't get pregnant. Even if they could, he was a virgin. Virgin men don't get pregnant.

He shut his eyes and focused on Siegrain, who was once again being scolded by Yajima

"_You never think of the consequences"_

"_Of course I do. How else could I have made it onto the council?" Duh._

"_Be more careful while casting such complicated spells. This is why magic that requires chants is such a delicate business" Siegrain glanced over at the pillar he wrecked and was silently grateful that he had yet to be compared to a Fairy Tail wizard "Just the slightest mispronunciation like that and you get a whole new spell. The next time it might not wreck a 'dumb ornament'" which was what Sieg had called the pillar when Yajima had begun the lecture "The next time it could wipe out an entire town, or turn us all into demons. Anything is possible when such old magic goes wrong"_

"_I don't…" Siegrain stopped "Anything? Anything at all?"_

"_What are you thinking now? My goodness, boy, you're no better than those wizards at Fairy Tail. Always causing trouble. Never thinking or paying attention"_

"_What do you mean __anything__" Siegrain insisted "If I messed up an ancient spell again, could I…" Don't be too obvious "Could I make a building come to life?"_

"_Yes"_

"_Could I turn Ultear into a guy?"_

"_Yes-but don't try it!"_

_Why would he? Except maybe for a few laughs "Could it make someone pregnant-even a male?"_

"_Yes, yes"_

"_What about make you young again"_

"_What part of __anything__ don't you get?"_

Jellal opened his eyes and groaned. 'Anything'. Now he had two words he could despise from this trip. It was possible that… After all, he **had** messed up that one spell he'd tried to cast on Erza. He groaned again. Did that mean Erza was the father-assuming he was, as all eight doctors he'd met had said, pregnant? The world really was messed up if a man could be a mother and a woman could be the dad.

And, gods, how would everyone react once they found out? Jellal was certain that, Should there be a child, he wasn't exactly equipped to abort it. The Trinity Ravens would leave for sure. What about Sho and the others? Jellal never put much thought into exactly where their relationship stood. On the one hand, they were all childhood friends, Erza being the only person missing from their little gang. On the other, he'd used them as tools the past eight years, not that they knew they were being used. Except maybe Simon. Jellal suspected that Simon wasn't too loyal.

Their reactions could be anywhere from ditching him, to taking over the project, to becoming so protective of him and the child he might be having that he wouldn't get any privacy for the rest of his life. Or just theirs if he got **too** annoyed.

The boat rocked again and Jellal leaned over to puke into the bucket for the umpteenth time that day. He didn't even think that he'd eaten that much. He hadn't exactly prepared for an afternoon of vomiting. The trip to the mainland had been smooth sailing. An approaching storm was now making sure his trip back wasn't nearly as pleasant.

"Jellal" Millianna came downstairs "You feeling better yet?"

"No. Go back with the others"

Miria scowled "Didn't the doctor tell you what was wrong?"

"He did. That doesn't mean I'll immediately get better"

"Well you Should, because Wally and Simon are fighting and Sho started crying and I don't know how to make them stop and if you're sick you can't handle it."

"Just tell them I told them to stop" Jellal said as if it were obvious "And leave me alone"

"Alright" Miria turned and ran back up the stairs.

Jellal sighed. The people who worked for him could be put into two groups. Stupid, and un-trustworthy.

XXXXX

"Hey, I've been thinking…" Lucy chewed a bit of her sandwich and swallowed, watching Natsu wolf down fire and knowing he wasn't paying too much attention "Remember that explosion while we were fighting the bandits? And those weird flashes of light? You know the time you knocked out Ultear?" Natsu didn't responds "I wonder who cast those. Ultear said she was only watching, though she could have been lying"

"And what did the flashy-light-spell do?" Gray asked, taking Lucy by surprise.

"Eyah! You? When did you get here? You were listening?" Lucy jumped back or, in this case, forward, sending Natsu's 'food' flying everywhere. The next couple minutes were spent putting out small fires, which, thankfully, only Natsu was blamed for.

Once everything had settled down again Gray took a seat next to Lucy "So you were saying…?"

"Huh?"

"The flashy-light-spell?"

"Oh! I think… I think it was cast on Erza"

"Why?"

"She screamed when it happened"

The door was thrown open "speak of the devil…" Gray muttered.

Erza stormed in with a look on her face that had everyone pressing up against the walls trying to get away from her. Only Laxus didn't scoot… far. She stomped right up to Lucy, grabbed her, and dragged her out of the building without a word. Once the door shut, everyone felt a little guilty for not coming to the blonde's rescue.

"Ow, ow, Erza, what did I do?" Lucy asked as Erza dragged her down the street. Erza didn't say a word.

Finally, once they were a fair distance from town, Erza released Lucy and spoke "Lucy I… I think I might be pregnant!"

"What?" Lucy did the classic anime flinch where you took a step back and held up an arm in defense even though no one was really going to attack her.

"Well I…" Erza suddenly became very interested in her fingers and all the different ways she could mesh them together "I mean… my period is… but I didn't… not with anyone…"

"Alright, alright, calm down. We'll take you to a doctor-"

"No! Medical records go to the guild! No one can know!"

"I'll buy you a at home test. Just calm down-and don't freak everyone out like that again"

"Freak **them** out? Do you have any idea how freaked out **I** am? My period's never ever been late before!" Erza cried.

"So who would the father be, if there is a baby?" Lucy added the last bit quickly to try to keep Erza from going nuts.

"I. Don't. Know. I haven't done anything to-to-to-"

"Then how are you sure there's a possibility"

"I…" Erza blushed "My personal life is none of your business" she then said faster than Lucy would have thought possible. She decided that, like with many things in Fairy Tail, she didn't want to know.

XXXXX

"Well…?"

"…"

"Erza?" Lucy called through her bathroom door.

From inside said bathroom Erza's voice came back "…beyond negative"

Lucy opened the door up and entered "That's great, no unplanned baby then?"

"Y-yeah." Erza looked like she'd sweated a whole gallon of water freaking out over the possibility. "It… it says I didn't even have an egg…"

"So that's why"

"But my cycles always been regular…"

"It just skips sometimes" Lucy smiled "Don't worry too much about it"

"R-right" Erza stood up "I just… I need one last favor"

"What's that?"

"Could you leave the room while I take a shower?"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Notice her favor isn't using the shower, it's just the privacy. The shower is a given.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jellal had always categorized things into groups, not allowing more than four for any particular grouping. Today he'd grouped days into good and bad the way most people did. After an analysis of the past month, he realized he hadn't really had any good days recently. His entire month had consisted of horrid nausea, a trip to eight doctors who claimed that in spite of the illogic of it he was pregnant, complaining about his condition from (from, not to) Vithaldas, which Jellal found extremely unjustified since he was the one who was horribly sick/maybe pregnant, and so much fretting and concern from his 'Nakama' that he was just about ready to shoot the next one to go "Are you okay, Jellal?" in the forehead, damn the consequences.

"Are you okay, Jellal?" Where was a gun when you needed one?

"Y-yeah… just… fine…" Jellal tried to stand up when wave two hit and he had his head back in the toilet puking again.

Simon very hesitantly patter Jellal's back "The trip to the doctor didn't do you much good. It's been two weeks since we saw him and you're still sick. Maybe we Should go back to the mainland and have you looked at again"

"…"

"Jellal?"

"I already saw every doctor at that port town" Jellal grumbled "We'd have to either sail farther and risk getting lost, or actually go in land if you want to find someone else."

"You need some sort of treatment" Jellal frown, though Simon couldn't see it "I'm sure if Erza were here she'd be worried too" the frown was now so deep it practically went off Jellal's face "Jellal…?"

"Don't **ever** say that name in my presence" Jellal hissed "Never… mention that traitor…"

Had Simon's jaw not been made out of metal, he would have had a frown to match Jellal's "Not…" he took a deep breath so as to force words he didn't believe out "Not the traitor Erza. Erza the way she was back before she got magic. She'd be worried about you"

"Like I care what she'd think" Jellal stood up again, this time succeeding at doing it without having to kneel back down immediately after, and faced Simon.

"Didn't you like her" Jellal's face turned an kind of cute shade of pink "You went through all that trouble to rescue her when the priests took her to the detention cells. I know you wouldn't have done that for any of us"

"Th-that has **nothing** to do with-"

"And that's why you took it as such a personal offense when she didn't side with you" Simon continued, standing up himself and towering over Jellal. Whether the towering was an accident due to his large size, or meant to intimidate him, Jellal couldn't tell, but in his sickened state it actually held a bit of the second effect. "Which was why you made all the others believe she destroyed the ship and betrayed us all"

"D-damn you" Jellal took a step back, preparing a spell "You were against me all this time too!"

"I wasn't against you" Simon said "I've just never been with you"

"Rot in hell!" Jellal screamed. He'd suspected Simon, but being betrayed a second time wasn't made easier by suspicions. He held out his hand and began to cast the spell when his nausea returned. His magic interrupted, he doubled over and put his hands to his mouth to avoid making a mess all over the floor. "D-damn you S-Simon" He spat.

"It would help if you ate more" Simon told him "I know you've been skipping meals often since you first started getting sick. You're a lot weaker now than when you kicked Vithaldas out of your room. You could hardly fight your way out of a paper bag" surprisingly, Simon's tone wasn't too threatening, though from what he was saying it ought to be "Why not go to the mainland to see a doctor, then? I'm just as sick of having everyone worry as you are"

"If I say no?"

"Carrying you won't be too difficult"

"You need a ship"

"I can swim well enough"

XXXXX

"LUCY!" As always, Natsu barged in and made it all the way upstairs before even announcing he was there.

Lucy had just been coming out of the shower, not even fully wrapped in a towel yet.

Several painful minutes later she was fully dressed and sitting next to the injured Natsu on her couch "What is it? Why'd you come this time?"

"Gotta job" Natsu muttered, looking away like a child who'd been scolded harshly.

"Really? Where?"

"Some town"

Lucy felt her heart sink "Did you look at it at all?"

"I looked at the payment" Natsu handed the job sheet over to her. Lucy had to admit 750000J wasn't a bad payment at all for a low ranking job, in fact, it was extremely good. All they had to do was catch a few rogue wizards who'd been dabbling with minor black magic too. The townspeople were probably just worried they'd move on to bigger black arts soon.

"Did you tell the others yet?"

"Yeah, we've all been waiting on you for six hours"

"Then you Should have told me six hours ago!" Lucy exclaimed.

After some rushed packing and a race to the meeting point, Lucy and Natsu managed to make it to the train stop in time to catch a ride to their next client. They wisely assumed Gray and Erza were already on board. The other two members of their team were indeed waiting in one of the seats on aboard the train, and, as always, Erza was more than happy to knock Natsu out to 'spare him the pain of motion sickness'. Lucy suspected that Erza held some sort of secret grudge against Natsu for his childish behavior.

"Lucy, you took too long getting here" Gray told her once Natsu had effectively been knocked unconscious.

"No one told me for hours…" Lucy whined "You're all so mean to me"

"It's because you're weird, Lucy" Happy told her.

"No one asked for your opinion!" Lucy snapped "And I'm the only normal one!" It could be considered a true statement. But normalcy was a relative thing, and as Lucy was the only 'normal' one in the group of weirdoes, she was therefore the weird one. If that makes any sense. At all. Ever.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I'm gonna stop there cuzz I can't think of a good next paragraph and I don't wanna do a scene change.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Jellal sat with his chin resting in his hands. Pouting was usually beneath him, but he had decided to allow it for the time being.

The carriage hit a bump. Simon checked to make sure his companion hadn't been affected by this. Jellal grimaced slightly, but otherwise gave no indication that he was feeling sick.

"Feeling better today?" Jellal looked away "You ate breakfast, right? You Shouldn't be skipping meals when you're ill, even if your stomach is bothering you"

"Shut up"

Simon sighed. "The driver agreed to take us this far, but he'll be turning back in a few minutes. We'll have to walk the rest of the way" Jellal remained silent "It's a bit of a hike. It might be a good idea to camp somewhere. I brought a tent just in case…"

"…"

"You're vocabulary is at an all time low"

"It's been worse" Jellal assured him before resuming his silent treatment.

The carriage came to a halt "This is it" the driver called "I'm not going any further than this."

Simon and Jellal jumped out into a forest area. The later turned and glared at the driver "Why not?"

"Rogue wizards in the area. There are some things you don't want to get caught up in, you know. You two are brave, going off anyway" he leaned over to get a better look at Jellal "Hey… what's your name?"

"What's it to you?"

"Ignore him. He's in a bad mood" Simon said

"You look like that council guy. Sieg something"

"Rain" Jellal said "Siegrain"

"You him?"

"No"

"But you-"

"I'm not him"

"You sure?"

"Positive"

"Cuzz you-"

"I think I know who I am, alright." Jellal snapped.

The driver sighed "Well, if I ever see him I gotta tell em I met a guy with the same face. What's your real name?"

"Aster Phoenix" Jellal said dryly. Simon gave him a where-in-your-ass-did-you-pull-that-from look, but said nothing.

Satisfied with this lie, the driver turned his horse around and left.

"Aster Phoenix?" Simon asked

"I don't need him telling the council where I've been" Jellal said

"Because they're against the R-system"

"Duh" Jellal turned to face him "So which direction are we going?" Simon dug out a compass and pointed north-east. "How far?"

"About fifty miles, give or take. It's forest all the way."

"If there isn't a vehicle that can take us all the way back to the dock from where ever we're going, you're not coming back at all"

"You're going to… fire me?" Simon sounded skeptical.

"I didn't say that" Jellal said. He made a motion like slitting a throat "Now that I know you aren't loyal to my cause, I don't necessarily need you alive."

"You have yet to kill me"

"I'm just keeping you around until I get all my strength back" Jellal but his hands behind his head and started heading in the direction Simon had said

"And you have no problem telling me all this?" Simon followed after him

"Well, if you were against the idea of reviving Zeref from the start, and you haven't tried to kill **me** yet, I don't think it's a concern. What's the matter with **you** though." Jellal looked back at him, but kept walking "If I don't kill you once I'm better, I'll at least make you one of the sacrifices for the revival."

"Erza would want this" Simon said "She cared about you…"

Jellal snorted "Erza would want my head"

XXXXX

"How far from town **are** they?" Lucy complained "We've been walking for hours"

"We only have about ten more miles to go" Natsu told her "Then we can go back and get our pay. I don't see why it's such a big deal"

Lucy groaned and fell over. No one stopped to help her back up. After a few minutes of crying she realized they were gone "Guys?" She looked around "Natsu? Gray? Erza? Happy?" No response.

"WAAAAAAAAAAIT!" She started running in what she was pretty sure was the right direction.

She hit something. And fell over on top of the object

"Watch it!"

She hit someone.

Lucy got a good look at the boy she'd hit, who was glaring up at her with all his might. Then did a double take. She couldn't imagine a member of the council being in the middle of nowhere. It couldn't be anyone else but Siegrain. Blue haired young men with tattoos around their right eye weren't exactly common.

"I'm sorry"

By the look on his face the apology wasn't accepted.

"Jellal, are you alright?"

Lucy looked up at the speaker and screamed. He was even larger than Mira's monstrous brother.

"Fine, no thanks to someone" Jellal wormed out from under Lucy and stood up, brushing himself off.

"You're still in a bad mood…"

"You're Lucy, right?" Jellal asked her "Lucy Heartfilia? You're the newbie at Fairy Tail" Lucy didn't say anything for fear of getting herself into trouble "Not even worth picking a fight with. Come on, Simon" he waved to his monster of a friend and headed toward the village.

"You'd better cheer up when this is over, Jellal" Simon sighed and followed after him.

XXXXX

"Erza, you need to start getting us some S-class jobs" Natsu said "All the ones that the boss lets us take are too easy. It's not worth all the painful train rides to get to them"

"You're the only one bothered by the train rides" Gray told him "I like them"

"You only like them 'cuzz I don't!" Natsu accused

"So? Maybe I do? You got a problem with that?" Gray Shoted back.

Erza looked away.

As the two started rolling in the dirt punching and kicking each other Lucy crashed through a bush "There you are…. HEY!" Gray and Natsu stopped fighting immediately "I can't believe you left me behind like that!" Lucy started to rant "First you make me walk forty plus miles in these woods, then you just ditch me and leave me to deal with some jerk and his giant of a companion. **Then** I had to track you guys, and I almost went the wrong way after those two bumped into me" Never mind that she'd bumped into them.

"You ran into someone out here?" Erza asked. "The villagers said no one had gone into the forest since these guys started their little cult" she motioned to a few unconscious mages behind her.

"Yeah. This iron giant and some dude who looked like that council member. What were their names? Simon and… Jellal?"

"What?" Erza grabbed Lucy's shirt and yanked the blond so close that their noses were touching "Who? Say those names again?"

"S-Simon and J-J-Jellal" Lucy said

"What did they look like?" Erza demanded. Lucy wanted to cry. She'd never seen the armored wizard so mad, and, it seemed, at her none the less.

"S-Simon was huge, even bigger than Elfman, and he had a metal jaw. Jellal looked just like Siegrain, except his hair was maybe a little bit longer."

Erza released Lucy "They're here…" she said quietly "They're…here?" She turned to the celestial wizard again "Which way did they go?"

There was a look on her face saying that if she wasn't answered in two seconds everyone would die "They were headed toward the town but-"

Erza took off in that direction. Natsu grabbed Lucy and ran after her. Gray followed close behind while Happy took to the sky "What's with her?" Natsu asked.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: This is taking forever. Six chapters, Jellal's only about 1.5 months preg. And he and Erza still haven't met back up. Well, they will soon, so I guess I can't complain too much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Jellal was sitting on the grass just outside the doctor's office, looking even more cross than before.

"Well?" Simon asked

"He couldn't tell me anything the last eight did" Jellal said. It was all the same. You seem to have somehow become pregnant. Likely a magical accident. Delicate condition. Complications. Will probably need to be removed through surgery. Abortion isn't possible for a male. The list went on.

"And you won't tell me what all nine have said?" Jellal didn't speak "I'll go ask him then"

"Ah!" Jellal jumped in front of Simon while the giant of a man tried to enter the hospital "That's not really necessary. I know what the problem is. It's not treatable. It'll go away on its own after enough time. That's all that's important. Let's go back to the tower"

Simon moved him out of the way "I need to know. How else will I get the others to calm down if I can't at least tell them what's wrong?"

"B-but-" Simon shut the door behind him as he entered. Jellal had the old feeling that his life was about to end-something he hadn't felt since he first met Zeref.

Simon came out a few minutes later considerably more wide eyed. "Jellal… you…"

"Don't… say… anything" Jellal said in a dangerously low voice.

The two stood there with their backs to the wall of the hospital in an awkward, somewhat tense silence. Minutes passed by, then hours. The sun was setting when…

"JELLAL!" Simon almost didn't see it. Jellal, who was well practiced in the art of quick motion, zipped out of the way of a sword thrown at him and came to a halt across the street. Both looked at the attacker.

Erza had already Requiped another sword. She was panting from running a great distance, but that wasn't going to stop her. She charged at him with her new weapon and swung.

Jellal leapt up over her, activating his magic for a second time in thirty seconds to take to the air. He zipped up to a ledge several stories up on the building and swore. He Should have taken the blond out when he could, Lucy had tipped Erza off on his whereabouts.

"Come down here you bastard!" Erza yelled "I'll cut you to ribbons!"

Simon was speechless.

"H-hey… Erza, stop! You're making a scene in public" Lucy ran up and tried pull Erza away. She was shaken off. Natsu and Gray both grabbed an arm and forced her to the ground.

"Let go of me! Jellal! Get down here you son of a gun!"

"E… Erza?" Erza stopped struggling and looked at the iron giant, who had left the wall by the hospital building to stand over her "Erza, is that you?"

"Simon?" Erza stopped struggling "You're… alright?"

"Erza!" Simon scooped her out from under Gray and Natsu and wrapped her in a bear hug "All this time I've wanted to see you so bad"

"Aw, what a touching moment I can't wait to erase from time" Jellal blew a lock of blue hair out of his face "You two done with your reunion yet?"

"Jellal!" Erza jerked in Simon's arms

"Calm down" Simon told her "He can't do anything right now" His face was introduced to Jellal's shoe. While the little spat that this sparked was going on, Happy flew Natsu up to the ledge Jellal had situated himself on.

"Hey" He gave a sort of shove on Jellal's Shoulder "Why is Erza mad at-"

Taken of guard with suddenly being pushed, Jellal lost his balance and tumbled off. Simon moved to catch him, but Jellal quickly activated his magic and landed safely on the ground a few feet away.

Erza nabbed him.

"LET ME GO YOU PSYCHOTIC-"

Erza knocked him out.

Simon picked Jellal up before Erza could do anything else. "We have some catching up to do" he said "Do you know an inn we can check into?"

XXXXX

It took all of Erza's self control not to get up and slug the blue haired one sitting unconscious on the couch across from her. She was still trembling. Still, she restrained herself as Simon entered with a cup of what looked like tea and poured it down Jellal's throat. Lucy kept a hand on Erza's leg to help remind her to stay calm. Natsu and Gray were in another room, unaware of the fact that they were missing something important.

"There's an herb mixed in there that can temporarily repress magic. I picked it up at the doctors while I was asking him about Jellal's condition. I think it's the best way to keep him under control until everything is sorted out" He took a seat next to Jellal and looked at Erza "So you joined a guild?"

"…yeah…" Erza looked away "Rob-ojiisan's guild. He saved me, after all." Simon nodded "What about you? What happened at the tower after I… after I left?"

"Jellal took over. He wasn't nearly as bad as the priests. Much less cruel, much more motivating." Simon sighed and cast a glance Jellal's way before continuing "He destroyed the ship, though. Everyone else believed it was you. That's what he told them. That you went insane when your magic awoke" Erza made a face that showed that she partially believed this herself "I didn't fall for it, but I've been cooperating with him for the past eight years anyway" Simon continued "The towers almost completed, so it's probably for the best that **this **happened now"

"What's '**this**'" Lucy asked "I won't ask about the what the tower is, or who the priests are, for now, but I'd like to know that much"

"I'm curious as well" Erza said.

"About a month ago Jellal fell violently ill. After almost two weeks of us begging him to seek out treatment he conceded and came to the mainland. After getting a check up from several doctors at a port town about a day away from here by horse drawn carriage, he returned to the tower without saying a word about what he'd been told. At first we thought he'd been treated and everything would resume as normal, but Jellal was still very sick. After a few more weeks, I forced him to return here to see a different doctor. That's what we were doing in this town."

Erza narrowed her eyes at Jellal "And?"

"Well, he already knew what was wrong from the first trip, and as it turns out his 'condition' isn't the sort of thing that goes away with medicine. All that really came out of seeing another doctor was that I got to speak with him and learn all the details for myself. You see" Beneath the metal brace for his jaw, Simon was grinning "Jellal has somehow accidentally discovered how to make one's self pregnant"

"With his own kid?" Lucy hoped this guess was off.

"No. The doctor was certain that Jellal's child does have a different parent, though my guess as to who that is is as good as yours. Jellal would probably have a better idea, if any"

Erza crossed her arms "So you're going to return to the tower now? Or just him?"

"There's no point in me returning. Jellal knows now that I'm not actually on his side, he probably wouldn't let me go back if I wanted to. I think I'll keep him here though, until the baby's born at least. I don't like him **too** much, but he's an old friend, so I'll save him the trouble and embarrassment of explaining this to everyone back there. I'll send Sho a message saying we're staying her to get some sort of necessary information for the R-system"

"Can't we destroy it?" Erza demanded "Destroy the tower, free everyone, and destroy Jellal!"

"He's weak right now, mainly because he hasn't been able to eat much since the first symptoms of his pregnancy appeared, but he isn't powerless. I know the threat he dangled over your head to keep you quiet when you left. It most likely still applies now. He has other agents at the tower who'd get a kick out of killing the others"

Erza sighed "But-"

Cue horrible timing for regaining consciousness.

Jellal groaned and opened his eyes. He looked around before turning to Simon "Where the hell are we?" He spotted Erza and went stiff

"In a hotel, under a truce" Simon told him "Now-and I feel like a parent for telling you this-behave or I'll have to-"

"W-why isn't my magic working?" There was a hint of panic in Jellal's voice. He didn't seem to have heard the truce bit.

"Jellal…"

"My magic isn't working!" He screamed. He jabbed a finger at Erza "How could you let the psycho anywhere near me while my magic isn't working?" He looked genuinely frightened. Lucy didn't blame him.

Simon grabbed Jellal and forced him back against the couch "Stop freaking out and listen"

Jellal complied, but only with his trademarked defiant look. "What's going on?"

"We're discussing you" Lucy said, being surprisingly blunt (must come from dealing with Natsu) "Simon says you're pregnant" Jellal turned pink. Then red. Really red. So red Erza's hair looked pink in comparison. "Any idea who the father is?"

"I-I-I-" Jellal stuttered "N-not… I-I…"

"How far along are you? When did it happen? Do you know how or where you-"

"SHUT UP!" Jellal screamed. In the moment of silence that followed, Jellal completely broke down, sobbing and hiccupping uncontrollably.

No one said anything for several minutes. Finally, Simon pulled Jellal up of the couch and led him to a bed in the other room. He came out alone a minute later. "I'm sure that the whole situation just became too stressful for him"

"That, and he's all hormonal" Erza said "Doesn't pregnancy cause mood swings, Lucy?"

"Erza, you're a girl too. You ought to know these things" Lucy scolded "Do you spend all your free time playing with your swords?"

"No" Erza crossed her arms and leaned back in the couch "…I spend it trying on armor"

"That's not any better" Lucy sighed and returned her focus to the original topic "So will Jellal be alright?"

"He'd better not be"

"I think he just needs some rest, a little time for this all to sink in, and maybe some food." Simon thought about it for a second "Definitely some food. I've seen him eat only four times in the past seven days. That's not healthy at all."

"Who skips that many meals?"

"He's been really sick. He kind of stopped eating so he wouldn't throw up as much" Simon attempted to explain "At least, I'm pretty sure that's why"

"You know what? I don't care why. Maybe he'll just starve himself to death"

"…"

"…Erza, don't you believe Jellal can be saved?" Simon asked. Erza flinched "I know, back before he changed, you cared for him a lot. Don't you believe he could return to being his old good self?" Simon actually didn't believe this all that much, but Erza did, and Jellal was powerless so he couldn't take advantage of it.

"Th-that's not…" Erza looked away. Simon dropped the topic and silence fell over the room again.

"So what are you two going to do now?" Lucy finally asked, glancing at Erza

"Find a place to stay until the child is born. After that, Jellal will probably return to the Tower of Paradise. Me… I think I'd like to see your guild"

"You can come with us now" Lucy offered "Stay at my place. If I don't invite you, you'll crash there anyway. Everyone does. Right Erza?" She looked back at Erza, an accusatory tone in her voice. Erza said nothing.

"That sounds like a nice idea" Simon said "Except, Jellal has been a little temperamental lately. Are you sure you can put up with him?"

"I put up with Natsu and Gray"

"We'll be happy to stay with you"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Confession. Had Jellal not looked almost exactly like Sieg Hart I wouldn't have bothered with him at all until the manga where you get his back story actually came out in English.

It kinda pisses me off that Sieg Hart and Jellal both died. Like, leave **one** blue haired dude alive.

And Sieg Hart's death **really** pissed me off. Cuzz he was so cool, and actually a good guy. And all he was trying to do was help Elie get her memories back and then Hiro Mashima's all like "Now you get to be trapped in the past and most likely die of starvation while sitting in front of a rock guarding a grave of a girl who isn't dead who hasn't even really met you yet." WTF?

And Jellal's was pretty upsetting too. Cuzz he's this sweet little kid who gets brainwashed and once he's finally free of Ultear/Zeref's control he just died. How unfair is that?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Aren't trains nice?" Lucy watched Natsu through half lidded eyes. Natsu was curled over in a misshapen ball clutching his stomach. "They move so fast. What do you think about the way they move?" Natsu groaned "And I kind of like the bumpiness. I'm glad they never bothered to fix that when they first laid out all the tracks"

"Shut up" Jellal told her. Like Natsu, he looked horribly uncomfortable. Though, rather than curl up and take as little space as possible, he'd managed to fill three seat. One for him. The one to his left for his things. And the one across from him was being used as a foot rest.

"You not feeling well either?"

"I can't believe that pink haired loony has to put up with this sort of discomfort all the time" Jellal said "Can't wait till this stupid parasite is out of my body. Then I can just leave and not have to put up with motion sickness or you"

"You can't say that about the baby. Or me" Lucy scolded "Why'd you even come?"

"Because Simon dragged me along"

"You could have put up a fight"

"No. I couldn't have"

Lucy smirked. She'd initially been opposed to the idea of sharing a cabin with Natsu and Jellal while Happy, Gray, Erza, and Simon were in the next room, but it wasn't all that bad. Besides, it turned out Erza and Jellal were even more prone to fight than Natsu and Gray, so separation was necessary. She'd figured she'd have to kill herself to avoid going insane, but the second the train started moving Natsu has become 'obedient' and Jellal, who had yet to figure out Simon was giving him some sort of magic suppressing drug, turned out to be fun to talk to.

Fun for her at least.

Natsu tumbled of his seat and Jellal let out a sort of strangled yelp when the train came to a sudden halt.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience" A voice said over the speaker "But there seems to be a cow on the track. We'll continue as soon as it moves out of the way."

"ha…ha…HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Natsu stood up and began running back and forth down the aisle, enjoying his brief freedom from motion sickness. Since Jellal's discomfort was more of morning sickness that the motion had just made a little worse, he wasn't nearly as thrilled by this news.

"We have to wait **longer**?" He whined

"Haha! Who cares? The train stopped mo-" They started up again. Natsu doubled over on the ground. Neither Jellal nor Lucy bothered to help him into a seat.

Lucy got up and sat down across from Jellal "So what are you planning on doing once the baby's born?"

"Finding a suitable ally to ditch it in then leaving" Jellal said, glaring at her.

"You could leave it with the other parent"

"She won't be alive long enough to take care of it" Jellal replied carelessly.

"So you **do** know who the father is. It's a girl? What's her name?"

"Ah-" Jellal blushed slightly, putting his feet down so that he could scoot a little further away from Lucy "N-no one. It's none of your business. Go bug Natsu"

"Well…" Lucy sighed "When I tried that it got on your nerves. And you're more responsive anyway. So who's the father?"

"You'll have to try harder than that if you want me to tell you" Jellal told her "Way harder"

"Okay. Then what's the Tower of Paradise?"

"…Where'd you hear about that?"

"Simon mentioned it after you had your breakdown yesterday"

Jellal scowled "That's not your business either"

Lucy kicked Jellal's seat. It was the crappy wooden kind that was could only be called 'sturdy enough' if you stretched the word really far. It broke beneath him. "I can't stand how no one tells me anything!" Lucy huffed, looking out the window "It's like I'm not important at all. Never mind I'm the only sane person in all of Magnolia"

Jellal stood up and took the seat next to Lucy, too tired to move further even though he wanted to be as far from the blond as possible.

"Oh, don't get near me" Lucy said, sticking her nose up and turning away "You're just like everyone else. An idiot who ignores me and acts violent!"

"Don't you ever shut up?" Jellal asked her "You're the rich little runaway, aren't you? God, you must have been spoiled rotten as a kid to be such a brat now. The world doesn't revolve around you, you know."

"And what about you? What's your issue? You hate everything!" Lucy snapped "What did the world ever do to you?"

"It looked the other way" Jellal muttered.

"What?"

"I said shut up"

Lucy got up "Forget about you. I'm going to sit with the others. They're all much nicer, and they don't owe me for agreeing to let them stay at my house" She left the cabin and slammed the door behind her.

XXXXX

It took all Jellal's willpower to actually get up, grab his stuff, and get up when the train stopped in Magnolia. Not that he enjoyed the ride, he just didn't want to move.

To make himself feel a little better, he left Natsu behind as he got off.

No one noticed.

"So this is Magnolia" Simon looked around

"Kinda plain" Jellal said, not bothering to get a good look "Fairy Tail had better be here, else I'll die of **boredom** before you let me go" Of course, he knew that Fairy Tail was there, and would easily keep him entertained. The only issue was that if his magic didn't return soon so that someone could see him and Siegrain at the same time then another member of the council could spot him and mistake him for Siegrain. If you used the word mistake loosely, of course.

Simon had to hold Erza and Lucy back so as to keep Jellal from needing to be hospitalized. Jellal had the feeling that, in spite of his nausea, and his increasingly urgent need to find a restroom, he was going to enjoy this.

Gray realized that some prompting was necessary in order to get the two girls to calm down "Erza, we should probably report back to the guild, so that they know we safely completed the job"

"…fine" Simon released Erza.

"Lucy, why don't you show Simon and Jellal to your house. Since they don't have a place to stay, it may as well be there"

"We've already agreed that that's where they're staying." Lucy said, she was also released "Though your choosing my place shows you really do think anyone can just barge into my home whenever they want, don't you?"

"Of course I can barge in whenever." Gray said, not needing to even try to keep a straight face since nothing about the sentence seemed odd to him "Why shouldn't I be able to?"

Jellal smiled. The type of bright smile that usually held a dark secret. This trip, though probably humiliating, was going to be at least twice as entertaining.

XXXXX

"And this is the spare bedroom, which will finally be seeing some use"

"You said you'd had people over before"

"People who have no respect for a girl's privacy and go as far as to crawl into her bed without permission" Lucy said "It never occurred to them to use this place. It makes me kind of mad…"

Simon looked around "Where did Jellal go?"

"To find a bathroom or something (he looked like he really needed to use it)" Lucy shrugged "I actually managed to pay my rent at the beginning of the month" She'd gotten it out of the way before Natsu could do something to make it impossible to pay "and I just received pay from our last job. I'll buy a futon so that you and Jellal both have a place to sleep"

"That's not-"

"you're friend's rude, but as your host, I ought to do this for you, right? Besides, I can find some sort of use for it once you two leave" Lucy said "It's no big deal"

"…Thank you" Simon smiled "We haven't really done anything to deserve kindness"

"Well, **you** haven't done anything to deserve being treated poorly either. And since Jellal's pregnant, he'll end up being the one who gets the bed if I don't buy something else for him to sleep on." Lucy explained "I'll go get one now. You just make sure Jellal doesn't go in my room" The last sentence was frighteningly firm.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Nothing's quite as fun as writing chapters quicker than I bother to post them. It gives me this sense that, if I want, I can suddenly become lazy and none of you will know, cuzz I'll have a bunch of unposted chapters that I can still put up even if I'm not writing anything.

Ah… The story right now is mainly about Jellal and Lucy, but Erza's gonna become an important character again soon. Lucy's supposed to turn into this person that Jellal talks to about his problems and the likes… so I need to get them on friendly terms before I can create most of Jellal's problems.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Jellal inspected himself in the mirror. If only Ultear could see him He actually looked like he'd gotten into a fight with a ten foot tall cat. His hair was even more messed up than usual, his clothes couldn't have been more wrinkled, he had bags under his eyes, and he just felt _grimy_.

"Didn't sleep well?" Lucy asked, coming into the bathroom behind the blue haired boy.

Jellal flinched and spun around "What's it to you?"

"I'm just asking" Lucy looked equally disheveled "You kept waking me up last night, hurrying to the bathroom over and over again. There's probably a bunch of health risks involved in getting that sick"

"I'm fine" Jellal said hotly "I've only been here a week and you're already treating me the same way Simon does. I wish you'd just shut up"

"That's because I miss having someone fairly sane to talk to" Lucy said, digging a brush out of a cabinet and "Back home I could talk to the maids whenever I wanted to have a nice conversation. Everyone at Fairy Tail is completely whacked-not that I don't love them." She said "It just gets a little lonely being the only person who understands the concept of normal"

"And you think I **do**?"

"Well, so far you haven't given me any reason to doubt that"

"I'm trying to resurrect a dark mage whose very name inspires fear into people"

"But you know" Lucy said, looking back at Jellal and looking significantly better "You know that most people find whatever it is you're doing frightening. Even if you're doing something weird, you aren't weird yourself. Natsu and the others, they think what they're doing is completely normal"

"Good for them" Jellal said "Now can you go?"

"Why? You need to do something in private?"

"Well, I'd rather not have a girl watch me while I shower"

Lucy left the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and sighing "So that you could just take a shower like that was a given huh? You only wanted to ask for privacy? You and Erza are a lot alike…"

XXXXX

Lucy was in the middle of working on her novel when Jellal came out dressed in… the exact same thing he'd worn the past eight days she'd known him.

"Don't you have any other clothes?"

"No." Jellal said curtly "Simon just kidnapped me from the tower without warning. I didn't have time to pack any of my things before coming here"

Lucy sighed "Those clothes must be filthy"

"Would you rather I go around naked?" It wasn't a serious offer, just meant to shut her up.

"Come on" Lucy grabbed Jellal's arm and started dragging him out of the room "You're not wearing that **or** nothing around my house. We're going to get new clothes"

"But-"

"I've been looking for an excuse to go shopping anyway, so this is perfect"

"You're a-"

"What size are you? I hate spending hours looking for clothes for someone just to find out I got the wrong size."

"Lucy…"

"Actually, we might want to go a couple sizes larger than what you usually wear" Lucy spoke more quietly as they got outside "Since you'll be _growing_ soon"

"…"

"Jellal?"

"If I had my magic…"

"No threatening the nice young cute blond who's buying you clothes" Lucy ordered "Now come on"

XXXXX

"How about this one?" Lucy held up what she thought was a fairly cute outfit. Jellal scowled at her "Okay… never mind" she put it back on the rack, took a good look at Jellal's clothes, and started searching for something in a more similar style "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Probably"

"How do you and Erza know each other?"

Jellal picked a shirt he found to be acceptable off a rack and tossed it to Lucy "Not your business"

"Is there anything I can ask that **is** my business?"

"No"

"…Does Simon like her?"

"He obsesses over her"

"That couldn't have been my business."

"So? I don't care if you know **his** secrets" Jellal said "He's a traitor"

"How?" Lucy picked out a pair of jeans which Jellal frown disapprovingly at "What did he do to become a traitor?"

"Pretend to follow my ideals, then kidnap me and drag me all the way to this town."

"And drug you so your magic doesn't work?" It had just slipped out. Lucy covered her mouth a split second later.

Jellal sneered at her "Really? I'll have to speak to him about that one too" the tone of his voice promised pain.

"Um…" Lucy grabbed a random article of clothing off a shelf "How about this?"

"That's a skirt"

"Oh. Right." She put it back, then grabbed it back up "Well, I think its look cute on me." She said, trying to excuse herself for such embarrassing behavior. "Well, how's this then?" She picked up a pink shirt.

"For you?"

"Yeah. I'll need something to go with the skirt"

"Why'd you even bring me here if you're just getting clothes for yourself?"

"I just happened to see it" Lucy said "But it's serve you right to have to wear this outfit. Telling Simon's secret just like that. Even though I would like to know… about… How do Erza and Simon know each other?"

"They're childhood friends. From back before Simon looked like a one-eyed iron giant." Jellal said, picking a few more shirts and examining them before choosing the darker one "And that's one neither of them would mind you knowing about, too"

Lucy took the shirt and picked out a similar one, which Jellal nodded at before examining another rack overstuffed with clothing to the point where all the shirt hangers would have shot out a good fifty feet if nothing was blocking them. Lucy felt proud of herself for picking an acceptable shirt. She was getting a better sense of what he liked "So if Simon and Erza are childhood friends, were you friends with her when you were little too?" she prodded.

Jellal went a little stiff "That's…"

"Were you?"

"…yes."

"What happened? Clearly, you two didn't leave each other on the best of terms. I mean, you fight even worse than Natsu and Gray. Those to actually care about each other a lot, but I don't think that's how it is for you and Erza"

Jellal scoffed and tried to put a subtle amount of distance between him and Lucy. If he moved away slowly maybe she wouldn't notice him escaping.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked innocently. The plan was ruined. "Hey, you think this would look good on Natsu?" It was a flame print shirt "I think he's only got one outfit too."

Jellal broke into a grin, then laughed "I wouldn't be surprised if he does"

Having softened him up a little, Lucy went in for another blow "What happened between you and Erza?"

"We… had a fight" Jellal's frown returned "It's really not something you should be asking about"

Figuring this was all the info she'd get out of him for the day, Lucy said one last thing before focusing solely on expanding the pregnant boy's wardrobe "Well, if you need someone to talk to, I'm more understanding than most of the loons you'll find in town, and I won't tell anything you want kept a secret"

"hm"

XXXXX

"There you are" Jellal and Lucy were ambushed the second they entered the later one's home. Erza snatched Jellal up off the ground (and impressive feat since he was taller than her) "Come on. I spoke to master about your 'situation'. He's had a truth serum made so we can get all the details you've been leaving out."

"Ah… Erza… is this maybe… a little extreme?" Lucy asked.

"Of course not." Erza said "Not come on, jerk, I thought you wanted to see Fairy Tail anyway" She turned and walked out and down the street

"Erza, at least don't carry him like that" Lucy called, chasing after the two "It looks painful"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: wheee. Now what?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Erza forced Jellal into a chair, glaring him down with a look that just might be able to kill.

"Be gentler with him" Makarov scolded lightly "He…" he dropped the oddly shaped bottle containing the truth serum upon sighting Jellal "…looks just like Siegrain"

"They're twins" Erza told him, bending over rather quickly to catch the bottle before it could break "Evil twins" Jellal snickered, amused by this in spite of the current situation "Now…" She forced the mouth of the bottle up against Jellal's lips "Come on"

Jellal looked up at Erza. She looked serious. Resigning himself to his fate, he swallowed a mouthful of the vile tasting substance. It kept him from lying, but it didn't force him to speak.

"Erza, he only needs to take that much. We'll be long done with him before the effects wear off." Makarov took the bottle away.

"…yes, master" Erza said

Lucy burst in gasping for air "Don't… hurt… wait…" she took a deep breath "Is Jellal alright?"

"I don't know why you care" He told her.

"You're not hurt?"

"Physically"

"Good… what?"

Jellal would have sworn, but that wouldn't have been the truth, and therefore a lie. Instead, he made a mental note to keep his mouth shut like he'd initially planned too.

"Alright, Jellal" Erza leaned in a little closer "How long have you been pregnant?" Jellal said nothing. Erza grabbed his arm and twisted, getting a few rather weak protests from Lucy and Makarov. Since it was later than the guild tavern was really open for, no one else was around "Come on. How long?"

"N-nine weeks and three days" Jellal said, feeling embarrassed for having kept track "I think"

Erza twisted a little more "You think?"

"It's not like I know what exactly caused it. That's just my best guess."

"That would be June 27th…" Lucy said more to herself than to the other three "When we were bringing down the bandits in Era…"

Erza released Jellal's arm. Jellal snapped it back so that she couldn't grab it again. "that hurt"

"Good. Next question. Answer this one right away and I won't have to hurt you again. What's your 'guess' on how you got pregnant?"

Jellal was reminded of his lectures with Yajima as he said this one "I… I was trying to use lost magic and I messed one of the spells up"

"What was the spell supposed to do?" Lucy asked, figuring this one wouldn't hurt.

"It was supposed to affect a person's gravity. Make them repel things instead of attract." Jellal explained shortly. He'd probably regret saying that in a few seconds, but at the moment it didn't seem like to big a deal.

"Who's the father?" Erza demanded. Jellal looked away. "Jellal…?" No response "Don't make me…" Erza grabbed his other arm and twisted it behind his back. Jellal growled slightly "Who's the father?" She applied more pressure. A lot more. Jellal whimpered slightly, but didn't speak "Come on…" the bone in his arm cracked.

"Erza stop that!" Makarov ordered. Erza grudgingly released Jellal's arm. Jellal shifted it so that it was in front of him like it ought to be. He rubbed the sore spot while Makarov began lecturing Erza "Regardless of what sort of past you two had, you can't just go throwing your power around like that. You could seriously injure him and kill the child"

"I don't care"

"You should" Jellal told her.

"See? He can only speak the truth right now"

"If I know who the father is, we can probably dump him off on them!" Erza said "Even if not, this is the most important piece of information that he hasn't shared with us."

"If you care that much, making him have the rest of the potion will make it harder for him to hold his tongue"

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Erza demanded, forcing the bottle to Jellal's mouth again.

"It takes longer to wear off this way… I didn't think you'd resort to violence…" Makarov said. In truth, he'd been hoping to slip the rest of the serum into the drinks at the guild and watch everything play out after that. But he couldn't stand for having her attack someone.

"This **is** Erza" Lucy pointed out, slightly sympathetically.

They quieted down and watched Erza try to force feed Jellal. It wasn't until she plugged his nose to prevent him from breathing that he actually drank the rest of the serum. She set the bottle back down while Jellal refilled his lungs with air. "Now, who's the other parent"

"Y…" Jellal bit his tongue.

"Breaking your other arm might be a pretty effective way this time around…" Erza said, getting dangerously close.

Jellal blushed "Y… you are, alright!"

Erza spun around "M-master…?"

"You had him drink the whole serum. I highly doubt he'll be able to lie for weeks, definitely not right now."

"I-I… how… but…" Erza looked back at Jellal "you…"

"I'm not happy about it either" he told her "In fact, you have no right to be upset about it in front of me. A psycho like you is the last person I'd want to be stuck having a kid with, and, in case you haven't noticed, I'm the one who's actually having the kid."

empty minded look on her face, but she was really thinking about karma and how she'd have to look into it more.

She looked back at Jellal again "How'd you even cast your freaky baby spell on me?"

"Through Siegrain"

"So he **was** watching with Ultear…" Erza growled "He's lucky he has his council member status or I'd-"

"So your brother just left her there unconscious? I mean, Ultear?"

"Yeah. So? No one really likes her that much" Jellal said. This would have been a great chance to fold his arms, but his left arm was broken.

"No one?" Erza asked

"No one on the council. She's something of a vixen."

"And Siegrain told you this?" Makarov sounded slightly suspicious

"No" Jellal had to come up with a quick save for this one "I saw it myself"

"You've seen the council in action?"

"Yup"

"I think that's enough questions" Lucy interrupted "I should take Jellal home and-"

"Hold it" Makarov stopped her "Didn't you hear what Erza said? We should dump him off onto the father"

"…What?"

"NO!"

"She'll kill me!"

"Family ought to be together. I'm sure it'll be a wonderful experience for these two" there was a sort of malicious twinkle in Makarov's eyes. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair to the child if it's raised by only one of its parents"

"I'd be a little more worried about it being fair to the child to have this demon-" Jellal jabbed a finger at Erza "-as a parent. The thing'd be pretty messed up by the time it was old enough to think to run away"

"That's enough out of you" Erza hit him over the head.

Makarov sighed "Well, this isn't working perfectly. Lucy, you stay with the two of them for a week or two. Long enough for them to bury the hatchet. Make sure their interactions are non-violent"

"Um…"

"I'll pay your rent next time you're in a jam" Makarov said "Just do it"

"Alright" Lucy smiled and hurried Jellal and Erza outside.

"You're the daughter of that rich man who owns virtually all the railways in Fiore, right? Why can't you just dip into your family's fortune if you struggle with rent?"

"I'm not relying on _that man_" Lucy said

"How'd you know that?" Erza demanded

"I looked into the records of all the members of Fairy Tail back in Era." Jellal said.

"Because Siegrain let you?"

"No" crap. How could he excuse that one without lying?

"Did another member let you?"

"N…not exactly"

"So you were looking at them without permission"

"I had permission"

"From who?"

"…"

"Jellal…" Erza's voice had promised a broken leg if he didn't say something.

"Siegrain looked at the records. I found it out from him"

"Didn't you say you looked at the records?" Lucy asked.

"I-I did, but…"

"So who looked at them, you or Siegrain?" she asked

"Come on, Jellal, speak." Erza ordered.

Jellal was silent.

Lucy frown, and pulled him away from Erza "Excuse us for a second" She ducked behind a bush, pulling him down with her "Okay, tell me something I can stretch just enough to make Erza layoff"

"Why are you even bothering?"

"I don't want her to hurt you again"

"Why? She kind of has a right to. I ruined her life"

"I figured you'd done something to her." Lucy admitted "But Simon said something about being your old good self again" That, and she thought he was kind of cute, but he was the one who drank the truth serum so he wouldn't be hearing that from her any time soon. Oh, and it was nice to talk to a fairly sane person.

"I… I… can't say anything simple without giving away something to important"

"I can just make something up. Like you and Siegrain having some sort of twin telekinesis or something. You are twins, right?"

"No" oops

"Just brothers that look alike?"

"No" damn it.

"…so you too aren't related at all?"

"We couldn't be. Siegrain isn't even real" Stupid full bottle of serum loosening his tongue…

"W….what?" shock was very evident on Lucy's face.

"He's a psychic projection. I slipped him into the council" No. shut up. Why couldn't he shut up? He'd been a lot better keeping quiet when Erza questioned him. Lucy wasn't even going at him that hard. "Siegrain and I are the same person. When I'm using him I see and hear anything he does"

"…" Lucy took a nice, long, deep breath "T……twin telekinesis then…"

"You're not going to report me?"

"Not yet…" Lucy sat up "If I find out you're doing anything **wrong** with this then… but……… I think I'm in shock…" she stood up, looking like she was in shock. Jellal got up too.

"Are you two finished?" Erza asked impatiently

"Yeah. We're done" Jellal told her

"You going to elaborate on how you looked at those records?"

"Twin telekinesis" Lucy said "He can see whatever Siegrain sees and vice-versa"

"You look like you just witnessed a murder" Jellal informed her.

"Yes… is twin magic that surprising"

"I… never believed in it" Lucy lied "It's just a little surprising to meet someone who can use it, then." She took another deep breath. She needed to settle down so seeing Erza's house wouldn't kill her. She was certain it would be decorated with every weapon and/or torture device known to man.

She was in for a surprise when they made it to Erza's house. It couldn't have been more normal. In fact, though Lucy wouldn't admit it out loud, it was even nicer than her house.

Why did a psycho like Erza have such a nice house? Maybe Natsu's house wasn't completely molding like she'd suspected. Maybe Gray's wasn't covered from head to toe in discarded clothes… Okay, so Gray's was probably covered in discarded clothes. But maybe Natsu's wasn't completely molding, at least.

OXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Got lazy, so I'm ending here.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

They say a good compromise is when neither side is happy. Therefore, the sleeping arrangements that the three had eventually settled on must have been perfect. Erza had her own room where she couldn't keep an eye on Jellal. Jellal was in a different room where, even though he was in Erza's house, a wall separated them. And Lucy slept in the same room as Jellal where she could react immediately if Erza came in in a bad mood, though it meant sharing a bed with a guy.

No one was happy.

It was a perfect little moment they all wanted to erase from time.

The morning after Jellal's confession, Erza was up first. As always, she went downstairs and drank about a gallon of coffee. She wasn't naturally a morning person (it was necessary to get up early so she could be at the guild all day keeping people from misbehaving) so she needed something **big** to get her started.

Once she was actually awake, something horrible occurred to her. One the second floor, just above the kitchen, there was a blue haired demon.

What was Jellal playing at, anyway? Why cast a spell on her? What had he said he'd been trying for? Repulsion? She'd have to question him a little more today.

She was actually about to storm up there and demand answers from him right then when she remembered Jellal was, for reasons unknown to her but pretty damn obvious to anyone else, sharing a room with Lucy. And she didn't want to disturb Lucy.

Sighing, she made another pot of coffee incase Lucy wanted any when she woke up.

The next person to wake up was actually Jellal. This was at some point when Erza was making her first gallon of coffee. From the second he opened his eyes he knew it'd be a bad day. It was another one of those periods where he'd constantly jump between those two mentalities. That same god dammed mentalities that had caused him to cast that accursed spell on Erza that had led to him being in his current horrid situation.

He shut his eyes and rolled over, rapping himself up tightly in the sheets and accidentally pulling them off of Lucy. This was when she woke up.

Lucy didn't complain much about having the sheets stolen. Jellal looked like he needed them anyway. She got up and went into the bathroom. Though Erza lacked the various hair and skin products Lucy was accustomed to, the blond made due with soap, water, a brush, and a fairly cheap hair drier. It took her a little longer than usual, but an hour and a half later she was looking just as adorable as ever when she came downstairs.

It was a good thing she wasn't to big on coffee, because the last mug had gone cold a while ago by this point.

And so began the first day of hell…

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Okay, a shorter chapter, but that just looked like the perfect place to stop.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The trouble really first started when everyone was down in the kitchen. After a little debate over the affects of too much caffeine, Erza had decided to make one last pot of coffee for the road, Jellal was scrambling eggs for breakfast, something that could be done with only one good arm, and Lucy was in the kitchen making sure things were non-violent.

Erza peeked at Jellal, bothered that she had to share her house with a fiend. Albeit a fiend who had once been her best friend and wasn't too bad looking.

Too bad looking?

"You know, Jellal" Erza turned to face him completely, Jellal looked up at her too "You actually grew up to be quite a looker-though you were pretty cute as a kid too." Jellal looked back down at his eggs to hide the fact that he'd blushed under this complement. Erza thought he was cute. Did she- "It's too bad you'll be fat in a few months" Erza was hit in the face by a hot frying pan full of half-cooked egg.

By the time Erza had gotten all the egg goop out of her eyes she was the only one left in the kitchen, Jellal having stormed out feeling annoyed, disappointed, and embarrassed, and Lucy having fled fearing for her life.

Erza grumbled to herself and picked up her coffee, resolving to take a long job by herself to cool off and taking a sip, unaware of the fact that, before storming out, Jellal had slipped laxatives into the drink.

XXXXX

"Look who finally decided to show up again" Urtear hummed as Siegrain stepped into the hall "I was starting to think you'd died"

"I just thought he'd lost interest" Beluno said

"I was busy" Siegrain said, leaving it at that and taking a seat in his usual place. Now that he/Jellal knew why his magic had been failing him, he'd made a point not to take any food or drinks offered to him so that his powers could return "What did I miss?"

"Why don't you tell us what you've been up to?"

"Because I actually **need** to know what's going on to work where as you don't really need insight into my personal life" Sieg replied "If it really concerns you that much you could… no, wait… that's illegal…"

_In Magnolia, Jellal thanked the gods that he wasn't forced to tell the truth as Sieg._

Rage sighed "I'd rather **not** know what you do on your own time, but it had better have been important for you to vanish for a week like that"

"This council meets too often" Siegrain sighed

"Quiet, cretin" Another member hissed at him "Now that everyone's actually here again" he cast an accusing glance at Siegrain, who was playing with a pen "let's being. Our first issue is a report that Fairy Tail has-"

XXXXX

"-So in order to appease the council after that horrible mishap Natsu is forbidden from going on jobs until further notice." Makarov, having finished his speech, looked around the guild. To his disappointment, Natsu seemed to be focusing all his attention on Erza's 'boyfriend'

"Jellal, do you really need to be here?"

"Erza's still out of town. I don't know when she's getting back" Jellal said "This is my only chance to see the guild without having to fight her, since Lucy's been dragging me to every other point in town up until now."

"Can you pay attention to my announcements then? Or at least not distract the others?"

Jellal swatted Natsu away as he got to close "The issue ran through the council two weeks ago. I already heard about it from Sieg"

"That's right. Your brother is in the council, isn't he" Makarov said "I wonder if the others members heard about your condition" Jellal flinched "I should probably send them a letter, just to be safe. They do like to have background info on their members, after all…" he looked at the depressed look on Jellal's face "They do know you exist, right? I thought you'd seen them in action"

"They… don't know Siegrain even has a brother" technically not a lie. They didn't 'know' he did. Knowing or not knowing something didn't make it a fact. After two weeks of having truth serum in his system (thankfully it had worn off enough to not force him to speak anymore) he'd gotten good at stretching the truth.

"How'd you manage that" Jellal opted not to respond "You did have permission to be all those places you went because of Siegrain's position, didn't you?"

"Of course I did"

"Well, I should definitely tell them then"

This would have been the perfect opportunity to say 'have fun' or' knock yourself out' but the serum wouldn't let Jellal give sarcastic orders. Just answers. Instead, Jellal just gave him a nice, false, sweet smile that covered up murderous intent. Forcing him to be in close quarters with Erza and telling the council about him. He wasn't sure how much info they had on the Tower of Paradise. Maybe they didn't know he was behind it yet, but if they did…

"_I joined with the intent of finding a way to stop my brother. I didn't mention him before so as to not cast suspicion on myself_" something like that would probably work. His psychic projection wasn't being forced into honestly, and Jellal was a pretty good liar. It would work. It would have too.

He hoped.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: That's all for now.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"_Any idea what this is?" Ultear held up an envelope stamped with a Fairy Tail seal._

"_My 'other self' is in Magnolia right now" Siegrain looked away "Makarov took it upon himself to tell the council about him. I told him that 'we' are brothers."_

"_Anything else in here? Maybe I can just read it ahead of time and leave out anything important. If they ask to see it, I'll bring a forgery in the next day."_

"_Give me that" Sieg demanded, trying to snatch the paper away._

"_Oh. Is there something in here you don't want__** me **__to see? So nothing about the tower, I'd suppose. Well, I'll read it ahead of time anyway, just to be safe." Ultear ripped the envelope open and scanned through the letter before doubling over in laughter. Sieg couldn't vanish since there was a chance of someone coming around the corner just then, but he did try to inch away._

_No success._

"_You're soooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooo oooooooooo screwed." Ultear told him "So __**that's **__why you've been missing meeting so often lately. That's no fair. I wouldn't get a maternity leave."_

"_Ultear…" Siegrain said very calmly "If I were you… I'd watch your back… because the second you stop guarding it…. I'll __**murder**__ you…"_

_Ultear laughed harder, rolling around on the ground. Siegrain made a point to kick her as he passed her by on the way to the meeting hall._

Jellal groaned as Simon ripped the bed sheets away "What do you want" he snapped

"It's noon. Get up and get something to eat" Simon was supposed to be watching Lucy's house, but Lucy and Natsu had gone out on a job and watching Jeral was more important.

"No. Go away"

"You skipped dinner last night, and you missed breakfast"

"Go. Away." Jellal pulled the sheets back up and rolled over to better focus on Era as Simon left the room.

"_Now, to begin this meeting, let's discus the current situation with dark guilds. We've recently heard news of-"_

"_Excuse me" Ultear interrupted "I have something a little more interesting"_

Jellal felt a little sicker than normal as she passed up the letter

"_Ultear, this is no time for games and jokes" Beluno said, taking the letter and skimming over it "We have an agenda to… to…" he re-read it_

"_Beluno?" another member asked. Sieg sank in his seat a little as Beluno looked up at him then passed the letter on to the next person. Then the next, and eventually it made it all the way to him. He very hesitantly picked it up and read_

_\\Dear Esteemed Council Members_

_Several weeks ago a childhood friend of one of my (more destructive) guild members who goes by the name Jellal came to town to stay for a little while. It didn't take long for me to learn that this visit was actually against his will. Due to a magical accident, as he has yet to give further information on the matter, this man has actually ended up pregnant. This issue, while interesting, is something I wouldn't usually bother myself with, let alone all of you. However, you might be very interested in the fact that this man not only looks __exactly__ like Siegrain, but claims to be his twin brother. He has also said that he believes you are not aware of his existence which is why I have taken the time to write this, and assumed you would take your time to read this._

_If this is a matter which you feel needs more attention, please inform me._

_Makarov of Fairy Tail./_

_Sieg sighed._

"Jellal, get up"

"Scram"

Simon ripped the sheets off again. This time he was carrying a plate of food. Desperate to be able to focus solely on the council, Jellal said "Fine. I'll eat. Just give me that and get out"

Simon handed him the plate and left. Jellal eating was an improvement, at least.

"_You never mentioned having a twin" Rage accused as Siegrain passed the letter back to Ultear._

"_I never mentioned a lot of things. I didn't really think you'd care" Sieg said as passively as possible._

"_Sieg…" Rage's voice was dangerously low "You know we all have to go through a background check"_

"_I know. I was wondering why you never ran one on me. It's nothing to concern yourself with. Jellral is… troublesome, but I don't think he could ever really cause a major catastrophe" Sieg chuckled "It looks like he's caused more trouble for himself than anyone else"_

Jellal swallowed a large spoonful of applesauce and tried not to puke. Morning sickness was no issue. He just couldn't stand making Siegrain say those things about him.

"_Well, this looks worth seeing" Someone said finally. Sieg was too worried by the words to pay attention to the voice._

"_But we're too busy"_

"_As soon as we have spare time…"_

"_I think a little break from all this work couldn't be too bad"_

"_Write Makarov back"_

"_Let's wait a few more weeks, so it'll be more noticeable"_

Jellal spat out the juice he'd been drinking and pulled up his shirt to check. Yup. There was a bump there. Great. He Shouldn't have been surprised though. He was thirteen weeks along now, wasn't he? Ironic timing for the council to catch wind of his condition.

"_Is that alright? Something about waiting for that sounds weird"_

_Ultear turned to Sieg "This must be the first time I've seen all of them agree so quickly. Are you going to disagree as usual?"_

_Everyone looked at him "…no. There's no point is there? You all seem set on it, and it's not like there's a law that can be made to stop you."_

"_Will you come, Sieg?"_

"_I already have to deal with him enough, thank you very much" Siegrain said, grimacing to imply that things didn't go well when they were together._

"_You're loss"_

No. Not really. Jellal chewed very slowly on what was the chewiest meat he'd ever been given. His loss wasn't not seeing his own growing gut. It was having others view it. Makarov had been added to the list of people Zeref would destroy. The council had been on there for a while.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: This is the perfect moment to bring in a time jump


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

As planned, the council came almost a month after receiving the letter from Makarov. By now Erza and Lucy and company had returned, and were all gathered in Erza's house to witness the meeting and make sure nothing went horribly wrong, though one must question the wisdom of bringing Natsu for this task.

Jellal was grateful that the truth serum was now completely out of system. He didn't think he could bear all the trouble it would cause him if he had to be honest while speaking to the council. With his stomach now protruding just enough to be awkward he wasn't sure how efficiently he could use his magic if a situation arose where he needed to save his hide.

Still, he wasn't looking forward to their visit at all.

On the bright side, his arm was all better.

"Are you alright" Gray asked at some point while Jellal was sprawled out on the couch dreading how at any second the council could walk through the door "You look like you ate something bad"

"Food poisoning!" A light bulb lit over Erza's head "That's it!"

"I'll cook tonight" Lucy offered. Erza glared at her "Though I'd love to try your cooking. What are you going to make? I'm sure it'll be great!"

"Traitor" Jellal told her, rolling off his back and sitting up.

"Erza can cook" Happy asked, looking at the red-head in amazement

"Erza can heat up soup" Jellal said "Anything else is too complex for her small, narrow mind to comprehend"

Erza scowled and almost summoned a sword up right then, but someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it" Lucy ran to the foyer to escape the tension.

With the one non-violent person gone, the tension increased. And while you'd think having this person return would lower it again, when Lucy came back with the members of the council, it just got worse.

To give the council credit, they weren't as bad as Jellal had feared they'd be. Probably mostly because they were in the presence of others, and only he made a spectacle in the presence of others, and he wasn't there to gawk at his own stomach. Duh.

After the initial comments and questioning about the expected, my god you look just like Sieg, how it had happened, why he'd been attempting that (which still had yet to be answered), how he felt, how the heck he'd managed to avoid ever registering in the council's attention when his twin was a member (answered with a shrug), how much Sieg had told him, most of the council lost interest in him. There was a bit of poking at his stomach after this, then they all left to go scold Fairy Tail in person (unaware that their 3 biggest problem was in the same building as Jellal). Only Ultear remained.

"All things considered, that could have gone worse for you" Ultear said as the old fogies left.

"I suppose" Jellal said, folding his arms and looking away "It could have gone better though"

"How is that?"

"**You** could have not come"

"Jellal!" Erza snapped, reminding the blue haired man that she and the others were still there. He was so used to dealing with the council in Era that he'd started to slip into Siegrain mode.

"No. It's alright" Ultear smiled "There's nothing wrong with casual conversation between friends"

"Friends?"

Ultear ignored Jellal and continued "If it's not too much to ask, may I speak with my friend's brother in private"

"Of course" Lucy smiled and shoved Natsu and Gray out of the room. Happy and Erza followed after her. No sooner had the door shut then the sound of Gray and Natsu fighting could be heard on the other side of the door.

Ultear chuckled "They're awfully rowdy. Even if this ruins your plans it must at least be keeping you entertained"

"I'm bored out of my mind, actually, and it's just a small kink. Once I'm back to normal I can return to the tower and resume plans as normal. Construction is continuing in my absence, and I received a report the other day. It'll probably be ready before I am"

"So why not go back now?"

"I'd rather not welcome Zeref back to this world with a parasite in my gut. Besides, if I disappeared now Makarov would probably have someone track me down"

"And the kid?"

"I'll just leave it with Erza"

"Aren't you planning to kill her"

An 'oh yeah' look appeared on Jellal's face, but he said rather smoothly "That's when Lucy will take the little snot under her wing"

"Why Lucy"

"I don't think she'd let the other psychos look after a baby"

"You don't think she'll let them, or you hope she won't?" Ultear teased.

Jellal's cheeks turned just the slightest bit pink "If I really cared who raised the kid I'd keep it" he said stiffly

"Sure" That look had reappeared on Ultear's face. The I-know-what-you're-trying-to-hide-cuzz-your-making-it-to-damn-obvious one. Jellal hated that look.

"Shouldn't you be lecturing people on proper guild behavior or whatever?"

Ultear smirked "Am I getting on my nerves?"

"You always are"

She chuckled "Well, I'd best be of then. Before I go, does Makarov know about your magic abilities?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

Ultear just smiled and left

Worried about what she might have planned (as that smirk meant something bad) Jellal forgot about what Erza had planned. He spent that night with his head in the toilet.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I wanna publish a real story. One of those ones where people are like "oh, well if you describe it, it sounds really stereotypical and girly, but it's really cool" so I need to get better at writing. My biggest flaw that I could notice in my style is that I focus way too much on dialogue and can go long periods of time without describing a single action or setting past smiles and frowns. Don't believe me? Take a look at what 5 6ths of what this chapter is. The only part with no real dialogue is the first paragraph and the bit where I tried to avoid writing Jellal's interaction with the rest of the council.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

After recovering (mostly) from the food poisoning Jellal managed to get an hour or two of sleep. When he got up that morning Erza had already left for the guild. Lucy, who'd been up later than she was used to caring for the blunette, had only woken up a few minutes prior to Jellal and in a half-awake daze had wandered down for breakfast. Not feeling like making breakfast, she'd heated up leftovers. Unfortunately said leftovers had been the meal Jellal had failed to finish the previous night after they caused him to hurl (who knew why Erza had saved them?) so Jellal found himself having to go to the guild to tell Lucy's friends she was sick.

He dreaded it as he made his way toward the building. All the wizards there as well as a good number of the regular citizens knew about him and his 'condition' and that didn't bother him to much since he'd never see them again once the baby was out. But the guild smelled like beer, and after spending all night sick he didn't think he could handle that.

Fortunately for him, he wasn't completely right. While he did feel queasy almost from the second he entered, he didn't throw up. Maybe because his stomach was empty.

"Jellal, you came again" Makarov smiled him while Jellal tried to ignore him and locate Erza or, preferably, one of her friends so he could get out as quickly as possible. "I was hoping you'd come back. I was just speaking with Ultear"

He spotted Gray and tried to hurry over to him. He just had to deliver the message and get out. If he failed to tell them Erza would try to harm him in some way or another whenever the chance arose, and right then he didn't feel like putting up with fighting her

"She tells me you can use magic" Jellal had reached Gray and was about to speak "It would make sense since your brother is on the council. Can you?"

Trapped. Jellal spun around and said "Yes" really fast before trying to turn back to Gray, but Makarov grabbed him

"I'd like to test that somehow"

"I'd rather not use magic in a crowded place" Jellal said.

Natsu opened his mouth to point out that Jellal had had no trouble using it when Erza had attacked him several months back. A carelessly placed spell knocked the bench out from under him, solving this problem. While Natsu blamed this on Gray and the two began to quarrel Makarov continued "Well there has to be some way. I'd like to know what you're capable of. If Erza could tell me instead-"

"He's capable of murder" Erza interjected

Ignoring this, Jellal said "I don't think Erza's seen most of my magic, actually"

"Well then why don't you show her. Go along with her on her next job. She just picked one. The team's just waiting for Lucy" Ultear suggested

"Yes. Why not?" Makarov said, seeing this as a good bonding moment for Erza and Jellal.

Before letting this order sink in Jellal said **"someone**'s" and glanced at Erza "cooking gave Lucy food poisoning. She isn't coming"

Erza glared daggers at him, which was a negative, but on the bright side the news got Natsu and Gray to stop fighting for a second. Then the idea that Jellal was going on a job with Erza sank in, for both of the mentioned people, and neither were happy.

"Master, I refuse to work with this person. If I have to I'll… I'll… I'll quit the guild!" Erza screamed.

Frightened by this threat that everyone else knew was hollow, Natsu looked around frantically for a solution to this problem. His eyes stopped on Ultear "Why'd you suggest that?" He demanded before slugging her. Hard. Very hard. And since she wasn't expecting it she had no defenses up to negate some of the damage.

Oddly enough, Jellal was the one who felt a sharp pain in his head when Natsu contacted with Ultear. Since everyone had watched Natsu in horror, no one noticed the pregnant boy double over, then struggle back up. A few people looked over when the pain caused him to finally retch, but he was pregnant so no one thought of it. And the trembling he was doing could all be blamed on having puked up whatever he'd actually still had in his stomach (probably just stomach acids).

XXXXX

Though his stomach was feeling better with the smell of alcohol gone, Jellal's head was still killing him on the train ride to Hargeon. He glanced up at Erza, then quickly looked away, feeling his cheeks burn. It was confusing-and therefore frightening-to suddenly feel such a change toward her. Since Natsu had hit Ultear and he'd had that weird head trauma he'd suddenly found himself thinking about **everything** differently.

First off, Erza was no longer a violent sacrifice to be. She was extraordinarily beautiful, and getting on her good side somehow had become a top priority. Natsu was no longer amusing, he was just a moron (and he was absent from this train trip due to being in prison). Lucy wasn't overbearing anymore, she was considerate to a fault. It was the same thing, but put in nicer terms. Simon had gone from being high on Jellal's hit list to being considered thoughtful. Ultear was… okay, so his opinion of Ultear hadn't changed. And probably most significantly, or at least going neck and neck with his change of heart about Erza, the Tower of Paradise and anything related to Zeref was to be avoided at all costs.

Jellal watched the scenery rush by and wondered what could have possibly sparked this change. Why would he have ever felt this way?

…

That was right. They were his opinions from back when he was a kid. Back when he'd thought Erza was cute and had risked his life to save her. Back when he always stuck up for Simon in and the others. Back when he'd wanted nothing more than to escape the tower, and had spat on the priests' idea of Zeref being a god. Back before he knew about Natsu and Ultear and therefore had no previous opinions to compare.

So what had caused him to switch back to that mentality? It wasn't like those occasional times when he'd switched back and forth between the two every couple seconds for a day or two. Which was another thing to consider, now that he thought about it. In his 'revive Zeref' mentality he'd avoided thinking about those periods like the plague, but now he had to question why he'd never questioned it.

Taking a look at everything, it was almost like he'd had all his thoughts and ideas for the past seven or eight years planted into his head by someone else. Even the idea of grouping things, which he'd entertained himself with up until the past few months, was something he wanted to laugh at now. Really? Who cared what category this or that fell into?

But who could do that? And why would they bother? After all, for whatever he'd amounted to at this point in his life, at the time when they would have done so he was a half-dead slave.

And why had it stopped when Natsu had hit Ultear?

And then it hit him. The realization-not Natsu. Ultear had done it. She was always worried about her image with the council. She wouldn't have done something like build a giant tower herself. And hadn't she been really interested in Deliora? Like, to the point where she threw a fit after learning he was dead? And she'd supported the idea of reviving Zeref. Plus, she was good enough at magic to pull off something like that.

Well there was one thing she hadn't counted on. And that was him going through with the promise to murder her when she turned her back. Why couldn't he do it? He had the magic to, and it wasn't like he hadn't killed before to save Erza.

Thinking of Erza, he glanced at her again, then quickly looked away.

Erza noticed all but the blush, and scoffed "Stop acting like a freak"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Initially, I'd planned on doing this back when Jellal got pregnant (having the brainwashing get destroyed) but I kind of just forgot. If you noticed, I even set everything up for it to happen. That's why Ultear got hit with the chunk of whatever I had her hit with during Natsu's rampage. I just decided after that that Jellal needed to be evil a little longer to, like, increase the tension between him and Erza.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Knowing his luck, it Shouldn't have come as a surprise to Jellal that things didn't go well.

It started when they went to meet their client. The job was to take out some sort of colony of demons that had taken up residence in some stuck up rich man's mansion. By default, Jellal hated all people who were well off in life. Being de-brainwashed didn't change that. In meeting the man, this dislike grew.

He was the stuck up sort of person that made you want to strangle him, or hang yourself to escape his 'woe is me. Now I have to live in a large house with only 100000000J because I left my other several trillions of spare change in my giant mansion and I can't go to the bank unless I'm riding a pure-breed white horse which I also left in my mansion.' type attitude.

Erza seemed good at ignoring this behavior. After listening to his long spiel about how miserable he was in a house with only two marble pillars she calmly asked him to explain the situation at his large house.

"Well… about a week ago this horrible monster showed up in my living room. It was about…" he made a gesture with his hands to be about half his height "This tall, and all black. I called an exterminator, but they insisted I find a mage to do the job. While waiting the monster seemed to breed with a red one that I've kept caged in my attic for a while. I'm a collector of things you see" though Jellal just saw how stupid it was to keep a monster in the attic "and before I knew it my house was overrun with their spawns"

"So you want us to kill babies" Jellal said. Erza grabbed and silenced him.

"Monsters that breed fast usually grow up just as quickly" Gray said "They're mature adults by now"

"They're still less than a week old" Jellal pointed out, squirming out of Erza's grip "And I'd bet whatever dignity I have left that they'll live a good hundred or more years. Therefore: they are babies"

"Maturity wise-"

"Less than a week old"

"Fine" Gray threw his hands up defensively "We're killing babies"

"If Natsu were here he'd object to…" Jellal trailed off "Uh… object to… to… When did you remove your shirt?"

Gray looked down at his bare chest. It was true. His shirt was gone. Hadn't he been wearing it when he started the argument? "Doesn't matter. Happy, help me find it"

"I think the babies will kill you. They'll kill you, girl, and the nudist, and especially chubby over there" the man scoffed and pointed at Jellal.

"I think I'll kill you" Jellal muttered under his breath. He didn't know whether or not he Should be bothered by how violent he was even when nothing was controlling him.

XXXXX

The mansion was not a cheerful place. After only a week, the demons had done nothing to destroy it, so it must have been that the rich snob just had depressing taste in décor. Also, he apparently liked traps, because Erza had fallen into six by the time they got through the first room. Jellal hung back and only followed the path that others had taken (or skirted around it if the trap was the type to reset) so as to not fall into any himself and harm him or the child.

This irritated Erza.

"Jellal, get up here and actually help!"

"Get back here and make me" Jellal retorted, looking away so she wouldn't see him blush yet again. It would irritate her, but not nearly as much as the claim that his personality had suddenly changed.

Erza took the advice. She stomped back and grabbed Jellal, dragging him forward to Gray and Happy. When the contact was made, Jellal realized there was no way he'd be able to hide anything for long. Certainly not if he was living with this woman.

Gray might have noticed something about it then and there, but said nothing.

The tension Erza created held the group in silence until some point after Erza fell into a pitfall in the third room. This was her thirteenth trap. A wonderful number, in Jellal's opinion, to comment on.

"You know, you're a lot clumsier now than you were as a kid"

"Zip it"

"So" Jellal turned to Gray "Do you think the demons did this, or that rich snob out there?"

"Probably the de-" a cage fell over Gray (his third trap to fall into) with the words /Property of Duke Magova. Do not intrude/ carved into it. "the duke"

"Yeah. Probably. So what do you think it's like living in such a booby trapped place?" Jellal leapt over the pit Erza had fallen into and chucked a chair at the next doorway to make sure it was safe

"I'd think you have to spend a lot of time memorizing what all shoots poison darts at you before you could actually go around normally." Gray told him

"I'd think you couldn't really ever invite your family over for thanksgiving dinner" Jellal replied. "Just think of it. 'Sweetie, could you pass me the gravy?' 'Sure uncle' 'Oh-wait-don't pick it up from that angle-you'll-' 'AGH! A snake just came out of the table and bit me!'"

Gray chuckled. Erza, who had climbed out by this point, hit him for giving Jellal positive feedback before carrying on into the next room.

Having now formed small bond with the blunette, Gray asked "What's up with her?"

Jellal shrugged "Probably her time of the month"

Unbenounced to him, this was true. Erza pretended he didn't exist for the rest of the day. Even when she fell into another pitfall and several demons jumped in after her.

That night, on the ride home after being paid, however, she made sure to make the trip a living hell.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster:** Now I need to think up a living hell for the next chapter…

RUNE FACTORY FRONTIER CAME OUT TODAY!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Since the train ride back was going to take up a good portion of the night, Erza had been sent to go buy take out dinner for everybody. To Gray, this was a good idea to separate her from Jellal. The less injuries they could receive on the way back the better. He was eager to see if he'd get any praise for working with Erza and someone Erza hated yet managing to do nothing that could be complained about by the public (as his stripping in public had already been forgotten by the time they returned from eradicating the baby demons), and didn't want to compensate for a train wreck on the return trip.

To Jellal, this was another opportunity for Erza to slip him food poisoning. When Erza returned, not only without poisoned food for him, but no food at all, there was a bit of an argument that ensued. For as grateful as Jellal was that he would not have to worry about being ill on a train again, there was no way in hell he was going all night without a meal.

Finally, Gray had settled things by giving up on the 'avoid a train wreck' idea and forcing Erza to share her food with Jellal as punishment for not getting him any. A spare fork had been grabbed and now Jellal found himself in an incredibly awkward situation.

First off, he'd planned on sitting far back on the train. Somewhere where he could see Erza, but she wouldn't notice him watching. And the distance would keep him safe if he said something that got her mad enough to attack. Gray could intervene then.

Instead of this nice, easy plan, Jellal was now sitting right next to Erza eating the same food as her. His face was as red as her hair as he tried not to stare. He focused on the food. But even though he was starving he ate sparingly. While no food was certainly not an option, he didn't want Erza to think he was a glutton. When they'd been on the train for an hour and the food was only half gone he realized that Erza felt the same way.

He looked up at her in confusion. Erza noticed "What? Do I have something on my face?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

In reality, there was a bit of rice that she'd somehow gotten on her cheek, but Jellal felt that saying 'yes' would lead to sudden death. He shook his head and said "I was just wondering if you weren't that hungry"

"What? Want me to get as fat as you?" Erza asked

Jellal turned even redder and looked away "I'm not fat!"

"You're right. I Should take a picture of you now and show it to you in a few months. The you of now will look like a string-bean then."

"Why do you hate me **so much**?"

"Let's see. You broke my heart. Threatened to kill my friends. Injured me. Exposed me to cold-blooded murder. Ruined my childhood."

She would have gone on, but at this moment Gray chose to interrupt "broke your heart?"

"When and how'd I do that?" Jellal added

"When you said 'there is no freedom' and 'I will revive Zeref. If you want nothing to do with it than get out of my sight'"

"I didn't say the second one" Jellal insisted

"THE FIRST ONE IS WORSE" Erza screamed in his ear, standing up suddenly and accidentally spilling the food all over Jellal. She took a deep breath afterward then stomped off.

"Personally, I think the second one was worse" Gray said, getting the last word.

Jellal silently agreed, ate a few more bites, then took a nap. When he woke up as their train pulled into the station at Magnolia, he realized someone had drawn on his face.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I GOT RUNE FACTORY FRONTIER!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The marker almost washed off. Jellal didn't the leave the house the next day so no one could see all the faded marks on his face.

When he was dragged to Fairy Tail the next day he found himself desperately hoping that some childbirth complication would kill him. I mean, by virtue of the fact that he was male he was only guaranteed a million, one of them had to do him in.

Unfortunately, he had half his pregnancy to go before that came. Given how miserable he'd been during the first half **without** a massive stomach to be teased for, he might end up attempting suicide before he could make it to labor.

And to make matters worse, after that food poisoning incident Lucy had become to fed up to stay with Erza anymore. She promised Jellal she'd stop by from time to time to make sure he was alive, but he no longer had the comfort of knowing that Erza wouldn't do something serious to him so long as a friend was watching. There were no more friends watching.

Holy crap.

He was going to die.

When Makarov asked him why he was crying when he and Erza arrived at Fairy Tail, he claimed to have no idea. Makarov blamed it on mood swings and let it slide.

"I heard the assignment went well"

Jellal said nothing.

Makarov waved a hand in his face a few times before Gray saw and intervened. "Listen" he said quietly once they were far enough away "He's not feeling well today. You can tell by looking at him. Just wait until he cheers up before bothering him about anything"

"Fine. Though, tell me, what was his magic like?"

Gray thought about it, and realized he hadn't really seen Jellal use any magic "Um… he's… pregnant. He shouldn't be fighting."

Makarov sighed and dropped the topic. Figuring that he could just question Jellal about his magic once he was done feeling gloomy. However, throughout the day Jellal's depression worsened, and continued to for over a week. It got to the point where even Erza found herself worrying that, should she leave him alone, she would return to find he had hung himself.

Of course, she claimed she only feared that he would take her child with him.

Not that she'd thought of the baby as hers before that point. In fact, she'd been in denial, telling herself the truth potion was faulty and what not. Though, of course, he had confessed to being pregnant, which clearly was the embarrassing truth.

Disturbed by her concern, Erza treated Jellal especially coldly to convince herself that she was not going to let her feeling for him from when she was a child resurface. Often going way out of her way to torment him, but sticking around to make sure nothing bad happened. To Jellal, who was no expert in the working of either the female mind or Erza's, it seemed that Erza was just trying to make him miserable.

Finally, after another week or so, Simon's existence was remembered (by the author) and brought in for help (to somehow maintain the plot).

"Jellal…?" Simon asked, peeking into Jellal's room, which he had previously shared with Lucy "Are you okay"

"No. Piss off"

"Have you been making it to council meetings?"

"What's the point?"

This was slightly concerning "Don't you need the council to get the etherion for the tower"

"**I. Don't. Care.**" Jellal said

Very concerning "All you've talked about for eight years is Zeref's revival. You don't care?"

Jellal weighed out the odds of Simon believing him, and, after considering that result, how much he cared about Simon thinking he was a liar "I think I was brainwashed"

Simon stood there silently for a moment "Well… you're a smart… crafty person. I'm sure you know how unbelievably convenient that is, and would never just make it up. You must be telling the truth then" Damn. Jellal had wasted a good ten seconds considering his caring about Simon's opinion that he could have used moping about Erza.

"Good for you, Now piss off"

"So you're upset that this happened?" Simon sat down on the bed next to Jellal, who had managed to curl up rather tight considering his stomach was sticking out slightly more than the average 19-weeks-pregnant woman.

"Disturbed, but not upset by it" Jellal admitted. He didn't quite hate Simon anymore, but he did want to be alone. Still, talking again felt kind of nice.

"So you're **not** upset?" Simon said skeptically

"I didn't say I wasn't upset"

"But being brainwashed isn't why?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you upset?" Simon was growing irritated. Jellal was in the mood to be difficult.

"Erza"

"What about Erza?"

"She hates me"

"You ruined her life"

"Yeah… but aside from the constantly knowing that you guys were in danger, she seemed pretty happy. I mean she made all those friends at the guild and whatnot."

"Anything else?"

"I think she's going to kill me"

"Are you sure?"

"She's always hanging around here. And she's been meaner than normal. I think she's working her way up to murder" Jellal had a passive, yet serious look on his face.

"Right…" Simon got up "I'm no expert at romance, or most social settings (thanks to someone isolating me), but I think you should probably speak with her" he waited for Jellal to respond "Did you get that?"

"Yup. Now scram"

XXXXX

In spite of his efforts to seem like he didn't care, Jellal took Simons's words to heart. The next morning, as he slowly chewed on the eggs he'd made himself and watched Erza make herself a third mug of coffee, he screwed up his courage and spoke "Erza"

"What?" Erza snapped

"…" Of course, he hadn't told Simon that detail

"What, Jellal?" she demanded

"I… I love you"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Seems like a good spot for me to stop, especially cuzz my little brother is literally screaming "Get off" over and over and I have no idea how to write what happens next.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Erza took a deep breath. How to react to this completely unexpected situation was beyond her. She turned off the coffee maker and poured the half brewed drink into a mug. "I… I'm going to be at Fairy Tail" she said softly before leaving as fast as possible without running.

Jellal sat there and stared at the spot where Erza had been standing. He didn't know how much time passed, or if time had just stopped when she left, but after some time or none since there was no more time he started laughing.

How stupid was he? Of course she would have done that. Hell, he should be glad that she hadn't cut him up instead of just left. What had he been hoping for? That she'd just forget those things he did and say she loved him too? How foolish he had been.

So Jellal just laughed. He laughed so hard he cried. Then he just cried.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Cater: **Okay. So this is unbelievably short. It needed to be at the end of the last chapter, but I didn't know how to make Jellal react to Erza's reaction, and what comes next just doesn't fit into a chapter where something like that happened. To big of a time jump and mood and such.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

It was a nice Saturday. A little chilly for October, but nice none the less. Erza was sitting in a corner in the Fairy Tail guild staring out the window.

"Erza" Lucy sat down next to her "You haven't been working with us for ages. We haven't even seen you that much this week." Erza didn't respond "Um… what are you looking at?"

"Is that an envoy from council?"

Lucy looked out the window, following Erza's gaze. She was right. There was a humanoid frog out there. The humanoid frog came in, getting everyone's attention. Makarov was the first one to speak to him/her/it. "What are you doing here? Is someone under arrest?"

"Master Siegrain has been absent the past month" The frog thing said "He's vanished for a few weeks before, but we've usually received some indication of his whereabouts or wellbeing beforehand" he held out a paper with something scribbled down in Michello's handwriting "I've been sent to speak to his younger brother, Jellal, and see if he may know Siegrain's location"

"Siegrain is… missing?" Lucy asked. Now that she thought about it, Jellal had been depressed for about a month. He probably just hadn't bothered to attend council meetings. She wouldn't have if she couldn't even bother to walk outside.

"It is to my understanding that Jellal has been residing with someone affiliated with this guild"

"That's Erza" Natsu pointed to her. Everyone looked at Erza.

"Ah… no… I…" Erza looked away. "Jellal…" 'I love you' flashed through her mind "Jellal went missing too. I haven't seen him since Sunday morning" she said "We…" 'I love you' "We got into an argument and I came here to get away from him. And he wasn't there when I got back."

"What!" Lucy gasped "Erza! Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you come here and say he was missing?"

"Because I've been looking for him!" Erza snapped. For a second, she looked like she was about to run a sword straight through Lucy, then she sighed and looked away again "It's not like I don't care. He was depressed for a while and… I mean… I stayed around to keep an eye on him… but I guess I only made things worse." She paused "I… I said something to upset him. I think he ran away."

The last two sentences struck Lucy as odd. While she'd been with Jellal he had expressed a desire to run away, but also an inability to be bothered by anything Erza said for very long. Of course, she hadn't been around after Ultear got knocked out.

"I will send a note to the council" the frog said "We will be on the lookout for him as well"

"…okay…"

The frog left.

The guild exploded with noise

"Jellal went missing?"

"Erza, you should have come to us for help right away!"

"Isn't he pregnant? It's dangerous for him to be out on his own!"

"What if he's in trouble?"

"What on earth did you say to him?"

"Hey, can somebody refill my drink?"

"Is he alright?"

"What was your fight about?"

"How could you drive him away?"

"We need to get him back now!"

"SILENCE" Makarov roared. Everyone hushed "Erza, what did you say to him?"

Just, 'I'm going to Fairy Tail', but if she said that she'd after to say what he said too. Saying it aloud would make her feel worse. He'd looked serious when he said it, but she'd told herself it was just a joke. Still, she must have really hurt his feelings to have run away. He'd been depressed for weeks because of her…

"Erza?" She didn't speak. Makarov gave up and moved on "How far away could he have gone?"

"Jellal's magic lets him move very fast. He could have made it to the other side of the planet by Monday" she said "He's probably still in the country, though. I don't think he'd go **that** far" really, she had no idea.

"Is he alright?"

"From what I've seen, most of his magic is more like Natsu's, using hand on hand combat. But I've seen his use spells he can cast from a distance too. So long as he wasn't attacked from behind, there's no reason why he couldn't defend himself"

"I mean, is he alright?" had he been hurt too badly by her.

"…" 'I love you' 'I'm going to Fairy Tale now' "…no…"

"What did you do to him?" Lucy asked "The whole time I was with you guys the only thing you could ever say to get a reaction out of him was to tell him he was getting fat, and then he'd just throw something at you. He'd never get really upset"

"It doesn't matter" Erza replied "I said it alright? And I've been worried sick about him since. The whole council and everyone else is looking for Siegrain, and once they find him, he'll know where Jellal is. Don't they have that twin telekinesis?"

"THEY WONT FIND SIEGRAIN!" Lucy screamed, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table "HE DOESN'T EXIST! HE IS JELLAL!" Oh, hadn't she promised not to say that? Yeah, she said she'd keep all his secrets. crap…

The silence that followed lasted so long. To everyone's relief, Natsu broke it when he asked "What do you mean?"

Lucy took a deep breath "Siegrain is a psychic projection. He's just Jellal, really. He hasn't shown up to the council because Jellal's been too depressed to make him show up."

Yes, and Erza was the reason Jellal had been depressed. Wonderful. She'd made **two** people go missing.

Still, at least she could now shed the embarrassment of confusing Siegrain for Jellal the first time she saw him.

"Is that legal?" Cana asked.

"I don't think so" Lucy crossed her arms "But that's what he did. He knew everything the council was up to at any point in time because he was part of it. He never told me why he did that, now that I think about it"

"Jellal… Jellal was trying to revive Zeref" was it alright to tell everybody that after hurting him "He might have needed something from the council to do that. Or he snuck in to make sure nobody noticed what he was doing."

"I thought your issue with him had something to do with a tower…" Lucy trailed off, now completely lost.

"The Tower of Paradise. Also known as the R-system. Or the Revival System. It's a building designed to act as a giant magical system which can raise the dead. Jellal and I were both brought in as children to work on it as slave labor. He used to always fight the priests who ran it. He was always talking about escaping. When the chance finally came, his entire personality completely changed and he decided to take over the tower. He kept everyone else there to continue working, but sent me away…"

No one said anything again. This time, not even Natsu spoke. Lucy could have sworn half the day had passed before Makarov finally spoke "Why did you never mention this before? Even before Jellal showed up?"

Erza held her tongue. She'd probably gotten Jellal into enough trouble as it was. The bit about threatening her could be left out.

"Where all have you searched?"

"All around town, and every town that the train passes through. I just got back this morning."

"He could have taken a magical 4-wheeler to-"

"He can't drive" Erza said.

It was more a guess than a fact. But she had a strong and traumatizing memory of her and Jellal as children coming across a transportation vehicle near the base of the tower. To their delight, as neither had any magic at that point, the machine ran on some sort of liquid fuel. Erza had been curious, but afraid of getting caught on it. Jellal had been a bit more curious, and insisted that they'd only be a minute and return it to exactly where it had been left so no one would ever know. He'd climbed into the driver's seat while she'd gotten into the back. Three seconds later the vehicle was about 2 feet into the nearest wall and they were both running as fast as they could so as to not be caught at the scene of the crime.

Actually, she had a lot of memories along those lines. One time Jellal had managed to get control of a magic powered crane too. That should have been the indicator that he had magic, really. That hadn't ended to well either.

Oddly enough, these struck her as fond childhood memories. All of them ended with either running away as if a bear was at their heels, or getting whipped a couple times, but they were enjoyable up to that point, and after if they escaped successfully.

She hoped he was okay…

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Okay. I posted a decent sized chapter. Nothing much happens in it though. Ha ha. Still, at least Erza's starting to care for Jellal.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

For the next two weeks the guild searched frantically for Jellal. The odds of finding him were low. He'd already had a whole week to get away and they knew he didn't even need that much time. Simon contacted Sho and learned he hadn't returned to the tower, and Makarov had all the other guilds in the country alerted to look out for him. They were just about to give up when they received a message form Blue Pegasus. He'd been seen in town. Him or Siegrain, who was still 'missing'.

After some debate, Erza was sent to go retrieve him. Lucy followed behind in case something went wrong.

Everyone was fully expecting Lucy to need to help.

Erza felt a little sick as she stepped off the train and walked to the hotel where Jellal was supposed to be staying at. She stopped at the reception desk "Is Jellal staying here?"

"Jellal who?" the lady at the desk had the voice of someone who'd smoked since they were two.

"Just Jellal"

"Describe him"

"Well… he has blue hair-"

"Yup. Third room on the right"

Erza followed the simple directions and knocked on the door. There was a thump on the other side, the type you'd expect when someone literally rolls out of bed. A second later the door opened. Jellal's hair was slightly messier than normal, and his shirt was inside out, but otherwise he looked normal.

Erza searched for something to say "You're shirt's inside out"

Jellal turned pink and quickly fixed this. Once this was done the awkward silence resumed.

"R…remember when you crashed that vehicle? The one that ran on the fluid?"

"Which time?" Jellal asked.

"You did it twice?"

Jellal nodded "You told Wally about the first one and he said I was a failure. I told him I knew how to drive them, it just took me a try to figure it out. We snuck off and found another one. You're the only person who was ever dumb enough to trust me with a machine, so Wally didn't get in the vehicle with me. He went up and watched me from the second floor. I turned the thing on and crashed it into one of the polls holding the floor up. Wally just slid down. He was okay, but I got caught in the cave-in I caused. They dug me out a day later and whipped me. You said it was worse than the first time because I got caught. I said it was better because I lasted longer before crashing and set construction back"

"You have a good memory"

"Being stuck in a cave-in makes an event memorable" Jellal said. Another moment of silence passed. This time Jellal broke it "W…would you… like to come in? I mean-it's a hotel room, but-"

Erza nodded and followed Jellal in. In the back of her mind was a war. One side telling her to hate him, and the other side arguing that, even with a large stomach, he was adorable. The one thing both sides agreed on was that she had to get Jellal to come back. She named the two sides Reason and Feeling. "S…so… this is where you've been hiding?"

"I haven't been hiding. I just tried to go somewhere where I… where I wouldn't bother you" Jellal sat down and stared at his stomach with an anguished look on his face.

"Well, for someone with such a unique appearance you've done a good job of accidentally not getting spotted" Erza said "Everyone was looking for you for days."

Jellal laughed bitterly "Of course they were. Makarov made a stink about the baby, didn't he?"

Erza couldn't say no, as that was probably the reason. "They would have been looking longer" she said "I didn't tell them right away. I was kind of frantic when you first vanished. It totally slipped my mind to take a minute off from searching to tell them I was looking for you."

Jellal had no remark for this one. He stared at Erza, and his eyes became just the slightest bit watery. When he didn't speak Erza continued "I kind of thought it was hopeless. With your magic you could have gone far in little time. I searched at every town along the train line, but I never spotted you while I ran around town."

"You… you were… worried about me?"

"Well I…" she looked at Jellal. His face! It was so pathetic! He looked like some sort of lost little puppy! The look motivated Feeling into temporarily beating at Reason. "Y-yeah. You… well… what I did to you, I'm really sorry. That was horrible of me. Will… will you come back?"

Jellal's face lit up "I'd love to"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Crap. Yeah. So I went, like, two weeks without updating. But 1 of them isn't our fault. We took our computer in to get fixed when someone (_glares at older brother who totally lacks sense of how to avoid viruses_) got it some sort of virus that was slowly killing it. The people took at least 3 more days than they said they would, and we gave them 5 days. **THEN** it took forever to find where all are backup data had been stored. But after that I was just reading Hayate the Combat Butler instead of working on this.

Now to work on that one other story I have on this account. Then maybe figure out what the heck should happen next in the story I have on deviantart. I have the perfect ending planned out, but I'm having a little trouble reaching it.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Before getting on the train to return to Magnolia Erza and Jellal stopped at a café for lunch. It was while they were in the middle of waiting for their order that Reason recovered from the blow Feeling had struck and Erza decided she couldn't be quite so nice to Jellal. She didn't want to hurt him, but she didn't want to encourage his feelings for her.

Speaking of feelings for her… "Jellal, when did you decide you liked me?" It was **not** a discouraging question, but she was just too curious to not ask it.

"Um…" Jellal thought back "Around the time… that escape attempt we made, when the two of us scaled down the tower wall but the ship was gone. It was really late and cold out, but we figured since we were there we'd play in the water just a little bit before trying to sneak back up so we didn't get in trouble."

"Oh yeah… We got sick the next day." Erza recalled "That was almost nine years ago"

"Really? I can't count" Jellal said sarcastically.

Erza laughed. Reason gave her a good kick and she stopped abruptly, causing things to become awkward for the umpteenth time that day.

Neither spoke again until the food was delivered. When the waitress left Jellal had been about to eat his food when, for some odd reason, he'd decided to see how he could mix all the condiments together with his meal.

"That'll taste nasty"

"It'll all get mixed together in my stomach anyway" Jellal told her before taking a bite of what had once been some sort of fish dish then making a face "…It tastes nasty"

Feeling and Reason both set aside their weapons for a second to join Erza in her laughter at this "God. You're ridiculous, Jellal. What happened to being all sullen and cold and…" she stopped, noticing a disappointed look on Jellal's face "Um… I…"

"No… just don't talk… okay?" Jellal's voice was a little cooler this time. A little more like it had been for the past eight years. Of course she'd ask that. That's how he'd been. But it wasn't his fault. The next time he saw Ultear…

"That reminds me…" Erza, still thinking Jellal to have a cruel streak, decided it'd be better not to betray Lucy by stating his secret "Siegrain's been missing for a while"

"Oh. Oh, he has. Hasn't he? Well… I'll speak to him about that" Jellal said "It's not…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"We should probably go back now"

"Just a second" Erza shoved all her food into her mouth and swallowed it quickly. Jellal took this opportunity to take two more bites of his slop before they both got up to leave.

"Everyone's probably happier with me gone…"

"Jellal…" change the topic. Change the topic **fast** "would you like driving lessons?"

Jellal looked at Erza. For a few seconds his expression betrayed how startled he was. Then he laughed and said "You always were the only person dumb enough to trust me with a machine."

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: How long since I updated this? 10 days? 9? Ah well.

I discovered Code Geass. IT ROCKS! It's kind of like Death Note only more people die, the powers are cooler, the main character is less of a psycho, his enemy doesn't look creepy, they get Gundams, and there's an immortal girl. How awesome is that.

Hey, when you're done reading this, look up "Lelouch" on a google image search. He's the cutest anime character there ever was!


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"HIT THE BRAKES!" Lucy screamed. Jellal slammed on them. The abrupt stop almost sent him, Erza, and Lucy flying out of the vehicle. Jellal sat there wondering if this was a potential hazard for the child. Erza sat there wondering what had possessed her to think that trying to teach Jellal was a good idea-did he even need to know? If he wanted to get somewhere he could fly. He'd use less magic that way. Lucy sat there regretting agreeing to come so that it wouldn't just be the two of them alone.

"Jellal, this is very simple" Erza said "You put your foot on this peddle to move. If you push it down further, you'll go faster. The other one makes you stop. Unless you drive like a maniac you don't need to stop so fast, so you could put your foot down on that slowly.

"I don't think driving lessons were a good idea"

"No. We're going to do this" Erza insisted, though she felt the same way "Now, start slowly and-"

"BRAKES!"

"Lucy, we haven't started moving yet!" Erza snapped

"Oh… I figured… I mean… given the last three times… that we'd be about to hit a wall by that point"

"Thank you for having **so **much faith in me" Jellal rolled his eyes "Hey, what does this lever do?" He pulled it down and started the 4-wheeler up again. They shot backward.

This time Jellal slammed on the brakes without being told and turned to Erza "This has to be hazardous to the kid"

"Maybe" she admitted "But probably not unless you crash"

"Isn't there a more open area where we can use this?" Lucy asked

"It would take too much time to get there" Erza explained "and we-" They jerked backward a few feet. Erza shifted the 4-wheeler out of reverse gave Jellal a firm glare before continuing "We can't take too much time off from work to do this"

"Do we need to take **any** time off" Lucy complained.

"This is for turning, right?"

"Jellal…"

Jellal started the car at maximum speed and swung between three buildings and around two people in what, to Lucy and Erza, was the blink of an eye, before the car spun out of control and almost ended up in a river. Again, all three of them sat there wondering why they were sitting there.

Finally, Lucy spoke "You have a good reaction time…"

"Alright. I draw the line there" Erza yanked Jellal away from the steering wheel "I'll rent an older, slower model next time."

"Next time?

"Are you mad?"

"I said I'd teach you and I will!" Erza snapped "Now let's go home"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Hurray for fillers. I hit a bit of a snag. I **can't** let them just be happy go lucky without crushing Jellal and Erza's personalities. I can't make them both completely stubborn because Jellal confessed. I can't make just Erza stubborn because she'll hurt Jellal again. I have a couple ideas I might be able to work out, but not many. If anyone has a suggestion, feel free to let me know. Seriously.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Jellal sighed as he felt warm water wash over him. There was nothing quite like a nice warm shower, especially when you were trying to forget about totaling another vehicle. Erza was more stubborn that he thought to continue even after he ruined two 4-wheelers.

After several minutes he shut off the flow of water and grabbed a towel to dry off. He'd never been the type to try to wrap a towel around his waist before, but for the heck of it he gave it a try. He wanted to see if he could still pull off something like that with his stomach sticking out as it was. It was a bit of a trick, but he pulled it off.

Erza was gone that day. She and Lucy and Gray had run off on a bandit catching mission while Natsu was in the hospital. To take his place Simon had gone along with them, having finally joined Fairy Tail as a member. Jellal himself was toying with the idea now. What else did he have to do? Besides, it would give him more of a chance to see Erza than-

Something hit the window. Jellal paused and watched for a few seconds. A rock flew up and hit the window a second time before falling back down. He dressed quickly then went over and opened the window up to see what was going on outside.

What he saw nearly made him sick "Vithaldas?"

Vithaldas scowled up at him "What are you doing here?"

"That's classified" Jellal snapped. Here was a murderer who'd aided him in the construction of the tower. His arrival in town could ruin so many thing "What do you want?"

"The tower was completed a month ago. We tried to contact you through Simon, but received no word back. I came to tell you personally"

Jellal thought back to what had been going on then. That was after he'd run away "I was on my own at that time. Simon couldn't have delivered the message. How'd you find me here?"

"They said the council member's younger brother was in this town. I didn't know you were related to Sieglein. Now come back with me. We need to put the plan into motion."

Jellal sighed and thanked whatever gods he didn't believe in that Vithaldas couldn't see his stomach "No. I'm doing something important." He spent most of his day sleeping or harassing the council members as Sieg when Erza wasn't giving him lessons. Both things were extraordinarily frivolous, but they were both way more appealing than killing someone to revive a horrid dark mage.

"But-Jellal-"

"Scram" Jellal ordered.

"We need you to-"

"I'll be there as soon as I can" Jellal promised, resolving to go and personally tear the tower down once he was able to "For now, go"

"If you don't come down here I'll-"

Jellal activated his magic and leapt out the window, kicking Vithaldas into the river and returning to the second floor of the house too fast for anyone to clearly make out what they were seeing. The disgruntled rock fanatic crawled back out and under the window "Fine. I'll go" he snapped before grumbling and storming off.

Jellal shut the window and let himself collapse on the floor. What was he going to do about this?

XXXXX

For the next month Jellal felt like he was standing atop a house of cards. Vithaldas's arrival had put him on edge. To focus on anything for more than five seconds before wondering what to do about the tower was impossible. Sure, he'd tear it down, but while he was still pregnant he was extraordinarily venerable. Almost thirty weeks along the child got in the way of even simple tasks. To fight or demolish a building in his state was a laughable idea, and one that worried him greatly.

He was so distracted that Lucy forced Erza to stop giving him driving lessons, which was a shame, because he'd finally mastered the concept of not starting the vehicle at full speed.

Makarov heard about his behavior and decided to have someone with Jellal at all times-to comfort him. This relieved Jellal a little. At least he wouldn't be alone if Vithaldas returned. However, it also meant that if Vithaldas came back Erza would know immediately and murder him. He asked to have Simon with him whenever possible. Simon was more than happy to help.

Of course, having someone around at all times wasn't completely possible. Lucy took Jellal out to buy new clothes, since he'd once again outgrown his outfits. Since it was Lucy, this also meant they she had to purchase clothes for herself.

Jellal stood outside the changing room tapping his fingers against this while Lucy made sure all twenty outfits she'd grabbed fit.

"Jellal?"

Crap.

Jellal looked over to his left. Millianna stood there with a huge grin on her face. Sho was behind her looking a little confused "Jellal, are you having a baby" Of course Milliana would jump to that conclusion. It wouldn't have occurred to her that men aren't supposed to be able to get pregnant.

"Don't be ridiculous. Jellal is… Jellal is…" Sho paused and tried to read Jellal's expression "Oh my god, you're right"

"What are you two doing here?" Jellal demanded, well aware of the fact that he was blushing.

"Vithaldas sent us to get you." Sho said "A baby. Wow. Is it kicking? When's it coming out?" He put his hands on Jellal's stomach. Jellal removed them instantly. **No one** touched his stomach. The initial reason for this had simply been because he wanted it to return to its normal size, but now it was because Erza wouldn't and he wanted her to be the only one who could feel the baby kick.

Sho looked a little disappointed then asked "So you'll come back?"

"No"

"But you're the only one who knows how to-"

"Just give it up, Sho." Jellal told him "I don't care about the tower anymore. I-" He felt something bind his legs together and fell over, twisting so as not land on his stomach. Milliana had his hands were bound next.

"We have to bring you back, Jellal" Sho said "To create Paradise"

"You're insane" Jellal told him, regretting having practiced lying so often. If he'd just been a little worse at it he could talk Sho down. Maybe he could apply that skill to get himself out this.

"No, Jellal. You're insane" Sho said "Why would you suddenly change your mind. We worked so hard to build the tower for you"

"But you-" Something hit him from behind and he blacked out.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: This was what I decided on. It seemed like the perfect way to revive the illusion of plot. Will Jellal revert back to the psycho Zeref worshiper? Will he escape Sho and Milliana and return to Erza? Will Erza ever return his feelings? Will I ever learn to plan a fanfic out before I write it? Your guess is as good as mine!


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"Missing?" Lucy nodded "Are you sure?"

"I went into the changing room real quick and heard a bit of commotion and when I came out a minute later he was gone." Lucy said "I searched the whole store and asked all around town but no one had seen him."

Asking around town was a legitimate way to locate Jellal. Having unintentionally made a name for himself as the pregnant man all of Magnolia recognized him instantly. If no one in town had seen him there was a big deal. Even if he ran away or had just gone home he should have been spotted.

"This is… a problem." Makarov said "Erza, did the two of you have another fight?"

"No. I've been careful not to upset him like that again" Erza said "I mean, I've actually tried to keep him happy. And that's a big deal because a large part of me still wants to smother him in my sleep." Part of her had changed her mind when he said 'I love you'.

An odd silence followed her confession.

"Because of the tower?" Mira asked "you want to smother him because of something that happened at the tower"

"Jellal ruined my childhood!" Erza snapped suddenly "He destroyed my dreams and innocence and left me in constant fear for **eight years**! He shattered my beliefs that stories can have happy ending! How could I **not** hate someone like that!" She took a deep breath when she finished. Her face had gone blue from lack of air. Once her lungs were full again she reflected that it felt really good to get that out, but she'd probably only gotten Jellal into more trouble. He as the one she should have screamed at. Stupid Jellal, running away again.

"Jellal was brainwashed then" Simon said softly. Only Lucy heard him.

XXXXX

"Nn…" Jellal's eyes fluttered open. He immediately recognized his surroundings. It was his room, back at the tower. His hands and legs were free, but one of Miria's strings was still wrapped around his arm to prevent the use of magic. Jellal eyed it with distaste. When the baby kicked he imagined that it was agreeing with him.

When it kicked a second time he imagined it was just trying to annoy him.

"You're awake?" Jellal flinched and turned around. Ikaruga smiled at him "You've been up to a lot since you ran away."

"I was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped" Jellal repeated

"My, my. How'd that happen?"

Jellal scowled at her and decided that telling the truth was better than making her think he was always weak "I hadn't been eating much because I was so sick"

"And you were so sick because you were expecting" he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment "Oh, so you were even pregnant then? Vithaldas is fuming about it, but I think it's cute" she told him.

"Smashing. That makes me like this situation that much less"

"Is the baby okay? No one could feel it moving"

Baby gave a good, hard, timely kick "It's **fine**" Jellal snapped "I'm capable of keeping a baby alive"

"Oh. Then I can-" Jellal slapped her hand away as she reached for her stomach. She just frown at him "Fine. Have it your way-but I **will** get to feel the baby move before it's out, no matter what I have to do to you"

"That might just be the lamest thing anyone's ever threatened me for" Jellal informed her, then pointed to his door "Now get out!"

Ikagura eyed him flatly and walked out of the room. Jellal wasted no time locking the door once she was gone. Now all alone he looked around for something he could use to escape. A framed photo, a bed, a dresser, a nightstand and a rug made up everything noteworthy in his room. All sharp objects had been removed to he'd be unable to cut the rope.

He sighed, feeling more than a little tired of having his magic sealed by this point. With nothing better to do he sat down on his bed and wondered idly what Ezra was doing now. If she knew where he was, she would murder him. If she found out (before she killed him) that he was only there because he was kidnapped she probably wouldn't come anyway, he wouldn't blame her. If she didn't have any clue… well… he had to wonder if she even cared.

Slightly depressed by this thought, Jellal rolled himself up in a large mass of pitch black sheets and let himself fall back asleep.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I'm gonna see how many weeks I can stretch this over. Ideally, he'll be due when he finally gets rescued. I have a couple ideas for how that'll happen. The problem is, there's the idea I like, and the idea that solves several issues that have come up. Hm… which to go with…


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Beluno shook his head "We haven't heard anything about Jellal. You must be a very dedicated girlfriend in fight your way through security to ask about him, though" Erza could come up with no dignified reply to this. When she didn't speak Beluno continued "When Siegrain returns I'll ask him, if it makes you feel better"

"Ah-where is he now?" Erza asked

"Well when he vanished our first thought was 'Wonderful. He ran off again.', but it turns out he went with Ultear when we sent her to monitor some suspicious activity near Kaelum."

"So he's nearby? You spoke with him? Could you contact him now?" Erza asked. Jellal couldn't worm out of talking to her with two members of the council as witness.

"Only Ultear can contact Jellal when he's gone and vice-versa. If one of them sent us a message then so be it, but…"

"Sao you can't reach **either** of them?" Erza's shoulders sagged

"Here" Beluno handed her a slip of paper "This is the address for the hotel we rented a room at for Ultear. Sieg will probably be there with her. If you'd like to go see them in person I'm sure you're capable of that"

"That's very generous" Erza said, taking the paper "How could I thank you?"

"By getting out of my office. I can't call on security to drag you out"

Erza blushed "Right away"

XXXXX

"This is the place?" Lucy stared at the hotel in awe. It was almost as nice as her father's house "The council must have a lot of money to be able to send its members here during investigations."

"It's the council" Gray said, like that was the answer to everything.

"So this is where Jellal is?" Natsu asked

"This is where we can find 'Siegrain'. And where we can find where Jellal is" Erza corrected.

"To bad you can't use truth serums and break his arm to make sure he's honest" Lucy said dryly before heading in.

"Hey, didn't Jellal have a broken arm when we first met him?" Gray asked.

"It's nothing." Erza hissed then followed after Lucy.

Gray looked at Natsu who shrugged and the two of them went in also. Simon sighed and entered last.

"Hello" The lady at the check in counter smiled at them "Do you have a reservation?"

"No. We're here to see somebody" Lucy told them "The woman staying in room A314."

"A314…" the lady checked a few files "Hm… that room was book by the council, but nobody ever showed up there"

"What?" Lucy gasped

"Well, that's not our problem. You pay in advance to stay here anyway. There loss. Would you like to use that room?"

"No." Erza said very coolly, shoving Lucy aside "Is there any chance that you could find where she **is** staying then?"

"If a member of council came in to town, no matter how stealthy they were, whoever gave them the key to the room of wherever they stayed would have seen to it that the whole town knew within the hour. Whoever you're looking for didn't show"

"Then where could they be…?" Lucy asked no one in particular.

XXXXX

"Wow. You're **here**? That's a first." Jellal told Ultear.

"No one here thinks it's weird that their leader is having a baby?"

"Oddly enough, most of them don't." Jellal said, pushing himself up "Now get out. How'd you get in?"

"Well, I can leave or I could tell you"

"Tell me, then leave" Jellal ordered. The less he had to see of Ultear the better.

"It's a psychic projection, like the ones you use for the council. I came up with an excuse for our friend 'Sieg', by the way. Supposedly I'm with him investigation suspicious activity in Kaelum. Near Kaelum. Whatever. I already know all about it."

"Wonderful, now get out."

"How's the little tyke doing" Ultear teased, pointing to Jellal's stomach and ignoring his orders "He's going to be a big boy. Have you figured out how he'll get out?"

"Ultear, seriously, the less I have to deal with you the better"

"The less you have to deal with **anyone** the better, it would seem. It isn't healthy to lock yourself up like this"

"Ultear if you don't get out I'll-" Jellal started to push himself up, but a sharp pain in his stomach made him sit back down.

"You'll what?" No answer "So when are we moving forward with the plan. Now that I've been sent here I can report the tower whenever. We can fire the etherion and then we're all ready to go. We just need to bring in the sacrifice of your choice."

"If you keep bugging me I'll chose you" Jellal told her flatly. This was a problem, though. Ultear could force the tower into activation if he wasn't careful. He searched for an excuse "I can't run the R-system in this condition. I've got about two more months to go before I can really do anything. Tell the council you couldn't find any sort of solid evidence but the area is still suspicious."

Ultear nodded "Fine."

Jellal glanced at the picture near his bed "Ultear, one last thing."

"What?"

He slammed his fist into the glass, breaking it into several large shards. Before Ultear could really react he grabbed a piece and threw it at her. It made its way into her arm "Don't forget, I still have to get back at you for the letter."

She glared at him "Well I wish you the best of luck with that"

Then she vanished.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

"Look at this mess. You could have cut yourself. Here, I'll get it"

"I can pick up my own floor-geez." Jellal shoved Sho away "I'm not helpless."

"But with the baby-"

"I said I can get it myself. Get out!" Jellal snapped.

Sho's shoulders slumped a little and he left the room. As he shut the door Jellal overheard him talking to Wally "He's really mean lately"

"You have to be more dandy about it. He's not mean, he's just hormonal."

"Oh, so-" Then he couldn't hear anything else.

"No. I'm mean." Jellal muttered under his breath before trying to pick up the shards of glass that had once framed a now shredded photo. Before his depression Simon and/or Lucy had gone to a good deal of trouble to take care of him, and afterward Erza had helped him out enough. Picking objects up off the floor was harder than he'd expected. While it wasn't impossible, he found himself wishing he had let Sho take care of the bits of glass left over from.

When he had all of the shards scooped up he opted to discard the pieces in his nightstand drawer rather than have to walk all the way over to the waste basket on the other side of the room. After this he flopped over on his bed and forced himself to acknowledge the fact that he was becoming increasingly lethargic.

XXXXX

"So we have no leads on where Jellal went or why he left" Makarov summarized after hearing Erza's report "I haven't dealt with him much. Is it common for him to suddenly change objectives like this?"

"Yes" Erza said in the driest possible tone "It's nothing new."

"How drastically does he usually-"

"A complete 180"

"Hm…. Well that doesn't help at all"

"He might…" Simon paused "He might have gone back **there**"

"He **wouldn't** have" Erza gasped. When Simon showed no sign of joking she swore under her breath "I can't go back to the tower. Could you check there? If he did go back, drag him back here-so I can **murder** him."

XXXXX

Everyone looked up as Ultear entered the room "You've returned"

"Clearly"

"What did you find out?" Michello asked

"Nothing. I couldn't find any solid evidence-just several things alluding to the possibility of… no. I don't have a very strong guess, but something is definitely up. I came back because I heard there was some new issue with Fairy Tail"

"Yes. They've destroyed a national landmark. I suppose the two of you would…" Yajima passed "Two…? Where's Siegrain?"

"He stayed behind to continue the investigation. He-"

"Oh, that reminds me!" Beluno's face lit up "Erza came here looking for his younger brother. Could you possibly ask Siegrain if he knows where Jellal is?"

Ultear smiled "I'll make it my top priority."

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Squeeeee! The new chapter made me soooooooooooooooooooo haaaaaaaappyyyy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yy.

I wonder what Jellal did to make Wendy owe him.

How did he survive that last hit from Natsu?

How long will I have to wait for the next chapter?


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Sho took a step back and examined it from a normal distance "Do you think he'll notice?"

"Notice what?" Miria asked "I don't see anything"

Sho let out a sigh of relief "I accidentally cracked the wall two days ago. I was really worried about Jellal noticing. I don't think it could damage the R-System, but still…"

"Meow. How would Jellal notice? He's been locked up in his room for almost a month now." Miria pointed out "He won't say what he's doing"

"I'm sure it's something important for the tower. I listened in on a conversation he had with the woman he's always in contact with. There's some issue with fueling the tower. Maybe he's **really **focused on that"

"But he's had **a lot** of time to figure it out" Miria said "And we don't know where Simon is. And he won't let anyone feel his tummy"

"Simon stayed on the mainlands I think. He left with Jellal. He might also be working on fueling the tower."

"Well I wish he'd come back"

"I did" Wally and Miria turned around to see a giant, one-eyed, metal-jawed man towering over them "I need to speak with Jellal is person. I couldn't contact him via magic."

"He's in his room" Sho pointed down the hall "Hey, does something about this wall seem weird to you?"

"No, why"

"No reason"

Simon shrugged and went down the hall to Jellal's room. The door was locked, so he knocked "What?" Came an irritable voice from inside.

"Let me in. I have black-mail."

The door clicked open almost instantly. Who knew how Jellal had reached it so fast. "How did you know I was here?"

"Lucky guess. What possessed you to come back here? Especially with Junior?"

"The same thing that possessed me to leave here in the first place" Jellal complained, walking back over to his bed and flopping down on it "I am **soooo** sick of getting abducted."

"I think you've completely lost your ability to fight" Simon was hit in the face with a pillow hard enough to get knocked over.

"I-I have **not**! I just… I just keep being taken by surprise. H-how was I supposed to know that you were planning on kidnapping me while I was sick? And I was hit from behind the last time while Sho was distracting me. That's not a fair fight at all!" Jellal insisted.

Simon shoved himself back up "Well, I should report this to Erza"

"N-no. she'll kill me if she finds out I'm here."

"She said she would. Don't worry. I'll tell her the full story"

"Aren't you going to take me with you?" Jellal asked when Simon started to leave.

"No"

"But-"

"I can't break you out. I'm one of the weaker mages here."

"But-"

"And no one will harm you. You're the one who knows how to run the tower. They'll leave you intact"

"But-"

"And I'll actually go fast this time, not put it off out of fear of returning."

"But you-"

"And I'll see if I can get someone to help break you out" Simon shut the door.

Jellal growled "Fine I can help myself!"

Anger actually brought about reasonable thinking for once. He opened his nightstand draw and pulled out a shard of glass. It took a minute or two to cut through Miria's rope, but once it was off it was off. He tore part of his sheet and wrapped it around his arm to mimic the rope to the best of his ability, then he summoned Siegrain.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: Help finally arrives and he no longer needs it.

So here are my theories on what's going on.

1) Jellal didn't die from fusing with Etherion because Erza tried to fuse too and they were both saved by the joint thing. Since he was a little more informed he was more fused and that's why he was more affected. After being revived he'll join Natsu's team and fight Racer.

2) Simon was the one who directed the Etherion back into the sky, not Jellal. He is still under Ultear's brainwashing thing and will help/be in charge of the Oracion Six.

3) Both these theories are way off and something else I wasn't expecting will happen.

I really hope it's the first-though it probably won't be. It'd be nice if he was a good guy, but mostly I think a fight between him and Racer would be epic.

Also, I think Natsu's freaked out cuzz Wendy revived him and he went and did something bad right away. Or it could just be the sight of his unconscious body. Who knows?

I wonder if Wendy was another slave. Maybe Jellal helped her escape? She must have known him since before that whole 'Zeref's World' bit.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"Siegrain?" Yajima looked mildly surprised "This is my private office. How did you get in without me noticing?"

"Not important. We need to call a meeting. **Now**."

"You found some serious information. Good for you, finally taking the job seriously." Yajima reached for the switch that would alert all the members of the council that they needed to meet. Siegrain grabbed his hand "You said to call a meeting"

"We need to tell the others. Ultear can't be involved."

"Is Ultear behind this?" Yajima sounded alarmed.

Sieg/Jellal sighed and resigned himself to his fate "Help me gather the others. Exclude Ultear. Afterward… afterwards please arrest me. I only request that the details not be made public"

Yajima stared at him long and hard "Fine. I'll get the others. Let's hear what you have to say."

XXXXX

The members of the council sat back and listened with increasingly grimed expressions as Siegrain explained to them the R-System, who all had been involved, who all had been duped, who else worth arresting, how it worked, what he'd been doing on the council, and what was going on at the time. He left out his suspicions about Ultear's involvement in his involvement. Any claims like that made now would only get him into more trouble.

Finally, Rage spoke "So Ultear and your younger brother were trying to revive Zeref?"

"That's no reason to arrest you" Yajima scoffed. The statement brought surprised looks from the other members-they had not heard this request.

"I don't have a little brother" Siegrain said flatly "He's me. I'm him. I'm, Jellal. I'm a psychic projection. I confess all this freely and, furthermore, would like to make a request"

"That is…?" Yajima prompted

"Not to laugh."

Yajima thought for a second "You're in your… ah… 'situation' from using lost magic… aren't you?"

"Yup. Messed up a chant. Didn't take out another pillar though." Siegrain could admit this without blushing, but back in the tower on his bed Jellal was bright red.

"We don't have much choice but to take your word for it. Ultear will be arrested immediately. We'll have the tower marched on-since taking it out from a distance doesn't seem to be possible. How many people are inside?"

"Several hundred. I couldn't name most. To me they're just faceless members of a false cult. They helped construct the building. There are also six noteworthy wizards. No… four."

"Let's hear all six"

"Sho uses cards. He seals people inside. That's all there is to it. If you know that it's not too big a deal-easy to avoid. Wally… Wally isn't really worth mentioning as a wizard. He does some weird… block magic. Just don't let him shoot anyone. Miria's a threat. She makes a rope that can cancel people's magic. At the moment everyone thinks she's canceled mine, actually. There are also the three members of trinity raven, who I hired to defend the tower. You should be familiar with them."

"We are" Okou sighed "We may want to bring in a guild for this"

"I'd recommend Fairy Tail" Siegrain said "Not just because they're known to destroy buildings. Erza Scarlett is also involved in this-though she's not responsible for anything happening there at the moment."

"Explain, Jellal" Michello said very sourly, as if he ought to know by now not to leave out any details.

"Erza and I… both worked there as slaves on the tower. She started a revolt to earn everyone their freedom. I took advantage of her wiping out the priests there and took over. She rejected the idea, so I had her sent away. The others all followed me after… a few white lies."

"Such as…?"

"Not important." Siegrain insisted.

Yajima look up at the ceiling and said very slowly "I think… Fairy Tail would be a good idea. They've proven to be useful numerous times before. And if one of their members is involved it would be unfair to exclude her. Besides, they do have a knack for destroying buildings, and that's what we want here."

"Where are you?" Okou asked Siegrain.

"Right here" duh

"Within the tower?"

"The top floor" duh again. Where else would he be if he ran the place? "The third room on the left from the stairs. My door's locked. There aren't any windows"

"Why's your door locked?"

"If it isn't people constantly barge in"

"How long have you been there?" Yajima asked out of genuine curiosity "I mean, in the tower, total."

"About… eight… nine… maybe going on ten years? I don't know the exact date that I was first brought there. And, of course, I was dragged out for a little while and stayed with Erza."

"I'm surprised she didn't try to cut off your head when she saw you. It sounds like the two of you have a very poor relationship" which was a sort of a stab in Jellal's heart

"She did try" Sigerain assured him "But you'll have plenty of time to go and question the little details of my personal life while I'm in prison. You really did pick an interesting time to finally care."

"We should've done that background check on you"

"You should have"

XXXXX

"He **is **there?" Erza pulled out a massive sword "When I get a hold of him I'll cas-"

"He isn't there by choice" Simon told her "Someone ordered him brought back by force. He even had his magic suppressed while I spoke with him and-"

Everyone went silent when Makarov stepped into the building. There was an ominous look on his face.

"Master?" Mira asked "What's wrong"

"There has been… a sort of upheaval. No info as been released to the media yet." Makarov sighed and took a seat on the bar table, running his hands across his face and sighing again "Ultear has gone missing. She won't be back. The council has listed her as a wanted criminal. Siegrain-or Jellal-as well. He's turned himself in. In fact, I believe he caused this with a confession or something. It was several days ago. It's been very busy for the guild masters. That tower, the one Erza mentioned, it's going to be torn down."

"Wonder-"

"We've been selected to do it"

Erza didn't finish her one word sentence. She just glared at whoever she'd been looking at a second before.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: I decided on what to do with the rest of the story. I'm working on the epilogue at the same time I'm writing this chapter. It's not a happy go lucky ending, but it's not horribly tragic either. Here were the two ideas I rejected, in case you were curious.

1) Erza and Jellal become utterly in love and live happily ever after with their little baby  
-The problem: It's to sappy and happy go lucky

2) Jellal returns to the tower with the baby and raises it alone, sparking a sequel where the child (whose name, appearance and personality I actually figured out a while ago) searches for and gains the acceptance of his mother, who would then be married to either Natsu or Gray  
-The problem: Jellal loves Erza, even if it's not totally mutual. He wouldn't run off of his own free will.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Jellal was enjoying being able to levitate things when something shook the tower. He hurried over to his door and stepped outside. Vithaldas was already there. "What's going on?"

"A guild attacked without warning. You need to stop-" he paused and looked at Jellal's stomach "You should escape."

"I'm still perfectly capable of fighting" Jellal said dryly, which was partially the truth "Where are the others?"

"They're all downstairs fighting."

"Which guild is it?" asking just for the sake of seeming uninformed

"Fairy Tail. All of Fairy Tail."

So Erza would definitely be there. "Call Sho, Miria, and Wally back. I'll go down with them. I have special instructions for their ears only."

"I'm on my way." Vithaldas hopped on, of all things, a guitar and flew off. Jellal leaned back and counted to 100 before taking off after him at his slowest speed. When he reached the floor where all the fighting was going on Vithaldas had only just separated the people he'd requested.

"Jellal, they're trying to tear down the tower!" Sho cried "Wh-what do we do? They're beating us"

"This is really important." Jellal said "Erza should be somewhere in their group"

"Stop her?" Miria asked

"No. I want you to go help her"

"But you said Erza was-"

"Forget what I said!" Jellal snapped, interrupting Wally "Just go help her! The council ordered this. I've already told them you three aren't actually guilty. If you fight back you'll risk getting in trouble. Help Erza."

The three of them exchanged looks "But Jellal," Miria said softly "What about you?"

"I…" the truth, or a lie that kept him from having to waist more time explaining "I've already turned myself in. A week ago. That's why they're here now"

"But Paradise is-"

"Just go!" Jellal ordered "You listened to me when I told you to give up leaving this place to build a god dammed tower to revive a dark sorcerer, why won't you do this?" Which was a reasonable thing to ask.

The three exchanged looks again then Wally finally said "Alright. We'll go. Come on" the other two followed him back into the fray.

Jellal sighed and began to look around for a Fairy Tail member he recognized, which came in the form of, you guessed it, Erza. In no time at all he was pinned against a wall "Why'd you come back?" she hissed.

"Kidnapped." He tried to keep his cool with a blade millimeters from his throat.

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

"As Miria. She's the one who tied me up"

"Where's Miria?" Erza demanded

"The moon" Jellal said dryly "she's somewhere in the middle of all the fighting looking for you"

He was released "You'll be arrested for this"

"Technically, I already have been" he told her "at this point anything I do is for show"

Erza eyed him flatly "Come with me. The boat we used to get here has some spare room. If Miria tied you up once she'll tie you up again"

"Notice I'm cooperating with this completely" he pointed out. He was ignored. Erza must have been furious with him for returning to the tower, regardless of the fact that it was against his own will.

XXXXX skipping the rest of the battle. Too lazy to finish it.  
The tower came down. There was much rejoicing. Rah, rah. Okay, onto the next scene

Jellal sat on the ship. The last time he'd been on a ship he'd been tied up by Miria. The time before that he'd been under the watchful eye of Simon. The time before that he'd been trying to deny the news that he was pregnant. How time flies.

He really hated ships.

Lucy came downstairs. "Hey. I heard you were tied up"

"I cut the rope"

"You'll get into more trouble"

"It was too tight"

Lucy sighed "we got a message from the council."

"Did you now" Jellal tried to hide the curiosity in his voice. This was likely about either his fate-though it may just be a congrats on tearing down the tower.

"They're holding a closed door trial for you. It's in two months so you can have enough time to have the baby and recover beforehand. The guild is in charge of keeping an eye on you until then. Simon told them he'd use that magic suppressing drug, but I don't think he's going to, and no one knows where he gets it from."

"Go ahead. Drug me"

"Neither of us think you mean any ill will" Lucy told him "We just…" she paused "You'll be staying with me until the hearing. Erza's still fuming"

"Of course she is" It tore Lucy's heart to hear how dejected Jellal sounded

"Well… I'll see you then"

"Bye"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: This was a rushed work. I crammed it into an hour while working on 2 other stories in a library. We're moving so it's really, really busy at home. Gotta go now. Don't expect many updates in the next few weeks. B-bye.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

The next six weeks with Lucy went incredibly fast. This Jellal contributed to spending majority of the time sleeping. What else was he going to do? Talk to her? Not with how she was acting.

He didn't know how, but somehow she'd found out about the brainwashing and was now giving him the 'poor baby' treatment. Simon wasn't as bad...But he was pretty bad. The protectiveness and the 'no, I can carry it'-ness and the 'oh, well if that's what you want for dinner I'll make it'-ness despite how outrageous the foods he asked for... it was driving him insane. Did they think he needed to be coddled? Honestly!

Still, when he was awake enough he counted up the weeks and compared the dates and realized "I'm late"

"What?" Lucy looked up from trying to cook some obscure Asian dish.

"I'm late" Jellal repeated "I was due a few days ago"

"That happens sometimes"

"Given all the weirdness of this... don't you think the baby should be early"

"Given all the weirdness of this I don't find it that odd that it's late" And that settled it.

A week later, however, Jellal was far more irritated by the fact that the baby **was not out**. And after an extreme amount of complaining to Lucy she finally caved and took him to a hospital... something that should have happened way more than it did. Jellal hadn't been to one since he and Simon reached the mainlands...

This was when Jellal was reminded of something from about eight and a half months ago (about chapter 7. I'm not in the mood to attempt to write 'good' today). He was a male, and therefore not capable of a natural birth. No, he would not develop a sudden vagina for the kid to come out of. It was bad enough that he'd somehow become pregnant in the first place. And like hell it would come out off somewhere else. If he wanted it out he'd have to settle for surgery. And settle he did.

While Jellal was whisked away to a 'no visitors' room Lucy ran to Erza's house to see if she wanted to come. The answer was a stern "No"

"But it's your kid. And your childhood friend. Erza, don't you care at all?"

"Not one bit" though she had become slightly attached to the idea of having a child in the time Jellal had stayed with her. It wasn't to concerning though. Everyone in town knew she was the 'father'. When Jellal was sentenced to prison in about a week she'd be given the child, and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was there 'for him'. She was **that ticked** that he'd wound up back in the tower.

Correctly guessing the reason behind her friend's behavior, Lucy said "Jellal was kidnapped you know. He had his magic suppressed and was dragged back to that tower. The cat girl told me they had to since he refused to go back on his own." Erza's frown slipped a little, but was recovered quickly "He seemed **really** hurt when he found out you were still mad at him. It wasn't his fault. You're being unfair" The frown vanished "Come on, Erza. Come to the hospital. It would really make him feel better. Whatever punishment you think he deserved had to have been dealt out in the past nine and a half months."

Erza sighed "Fine. Fine. I'll go see him"

And of course, since she agreed, the operation was done with by the time she arrived.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster:** I may have just lowered the (poor) quality of this story about 10 levels. How on earth can I recover this for the next even shorter chapter (just two more)? Can I possibly fix this up to be better...? Nah, to lazy. Be happy I posted SOMETHING.

I've got a story on DeviantArt I need to post here/work on. Plus the Rune Factory mpreg which is so unpopular that I had a chapter 27 of this story accidentally posted in place of chapter 7 for two weeks and no one told me...  
But once I finish those up I'm gonna try some sort of a Mart Sue gag story. That sounds so fun. I'm gonna purposely give her every Mary Sue thing I can think of... even the ones that don't fit whatever world I insert her into (Probably Rave Master) and I'll make the whole thing re-dic-u-lous


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

The call to court came about a week after the baby was born. Jellal was still in the hospital recovering, but this was no excuse as far as the council was concerned. A healing mage was brought in and he was shipped out to Era later that day. Because everyone liked to make a public show of things, he was only taken to the outside of the city, then walked through to court wearing handcuffs. Jellal figured no one was worried about him trying to escape since he'd reported himself.

It would have been nice if they didn't try to make a show of it though. He should have known to ask to keep the **whole** thing secret, not just the details.

As he approached the building someone walked up to him "You know, the last time this happened the situation was reversed." Erza said "You were talking to me before I went up in front of the council"

"You won't be judging me though" Jellal pointed out. That was a good thing in his mind, he was certain she'd try to get him hung. It did feel good to know she'd come all the way out for him though.

"I... I offered to testify for you," Erza said "but the council turned me down. I think you're just going to jail for a little while. You turned yourself in, and reported Ultear. Snitches usually get those sort of privileges" She stopped, realizing what she'd said "N-not that you're a snitch! You did the right thing!"

Jellal had missed the bit about being a snitch "You wanted to support me?" Erza nodded "Why?"

"I... I spoke with Miria while you were in the hospital. Oh-sorry I was late for the... um..." She shuffled her feet and looked away "I'm sorry I was so rude to you the past few months."

"No. I deserved it" Jellal said. Personally he didn't believe this, but it was what he knew Erza wanted to hear. As if she'd believe him when he said he'd been brainwashed.

"Well, Lucy told me she thought you'd paid for anything you did to me by getting yourself into that situation." Jellal chuckled at this. Because he was laughing, Erza laughed too "Um... I'll take care of the kid until you get out. I mean, it's mine too"

"He" Jellal corrected.

"Right. He's mine too..." Erza paused "S-sorry I didn't visit you in the hospital. I meant to, but I wasn't there when the kid came out and then it just felt awkward if I got to close to the building..." She shuffled her feet "Um... so... the baby... what's his name?"

"Lume"

"Lume?"

"Mm-hm" Jellal said "I thought it suited him"

"If it doesn't I'll have it legally changed while you're still behind bars" Erza cautioned. There was an awkward pause "Well... good luck. Try not to get stuck in prison to long."

Jellal gave a mute nod and hurried past her towards the doors.

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster: **That's right. The story ends with Jellal getting stuck in jail. MWAHAHAHAHA  
Not really. There's still one more chapter/epilogue which is conveniently already completed and saved on my computer, which is in a box, which is in a crate, which is way over in Michigan. I think I'll just have to re-write it.

btw, I think Jellal's still bad. I figured if the Etherion didn't kill him he probably HADN'T been freed from mind control and would STILL want to revive Zeref, but that "Erza..." got my hopes up...


	33. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Mommy" Lume tugged on Erza's skirt "Mommy wheh's daddy?"

"He's coming sweetie" Erza told Lume, ruffling his bright purple hair and picking him up "Be patient"

"Daddy's always in dere" Lume complained "I taught you said Daddy was gonna come out now! Mommy wied! Mommy's a wiar!"

"Lume you-"

"Wiar Wiar Wiar!" Lume screamed "You said I got to see Daddy today! You WIED Mommy!" he beat at her chest with his little tiny fists. Erza was mildly surprised by this. Lume, at four years old, hadn't done this in a year since he tried to hit her after watching Natsu do it and had bruised himself on her armor. She was, of course, not wearing any today as a sign of peace when Jellal came out.

"Ssh. Calm down, Lume. Daddy is coming, just a few more minutes, okay?"

Lume started screaming louder. He screamed and kicked and did everything in his power to make Erza wish she could turn invisible so people would stop staring at her and her kid.

One lady, noticing her distress, laughed and put a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, they're all like that at that age" she told her. It was of little comfort.

Lume was still throwing a tantrum when the murmuring from the section of the crowd closest to the prison increased, clueing Erza into the fact that Jellal was coming out now. With Lume still in her arms trying and failing to punish her with his little fists Erza pushed her way through the crowd to the street, passing the line that had been set up to keep the crowd out with a slight nod to one of the guards.

Down the street Jellal looked shocked to see her come out of the crowd. He froze where he stood, so Erza walked the rest of the way up to him. The two of them stood there silently for a minute staring at each other while Lume continued to try and make a scene. Finally his energy ran out and he stopped and looked around, realizing he was now in a different location. He looked up at him mom with large curious turquoise eyes, then followed her gaze to the blue haired man that had been described to him oh so many times.

"Daddy?"

OXXXXXO

**Rune Caster**: And there was much rejoicing "yaaaaay" (_said in a monotone while waving finger like a flag_). I'm still ticked that I can't see fireworks on Independence Day.

So Lume has purple hair. I thought that'd be funny. Red plus blue equals purple after all. Originally he was gonna be a little girl named Luna, but then I decided little girls are overdone so I made him a boy, but I liked the name to much so I thought "I'll stick an 'e' on the end instead or an 'a'" Unfortunately 'Lune' sounded just like "Loon" so I made a 'n' an 'm'. The original plot had Jellal still being evil and going back to the tower but naming him that since Erza really wanted a girl named Luna, but Jellal didn't leave and I just forgot to have Erza express her desire for a girl. Oh well. I don't get fireworks, you don't get full effort stories.

I probably shouldn't have written this while I was so ticked off


	34. Comment

**NOT A CHAPTER OF EPILOGUE THING!!!** I just thought I'd post this, as a sort of display of the thought process while writing Lost Magic.

First off, Jeral and Erza are my favorite characters, and 50% of my fanfic ideas involve them becoming a couple. So, naturally, when I wanted to do a Fairy Tail mpreg I paired them up for it (though I almost did Natsu/Gray). If a boy can be the mom a girl really ought to be able to be the dad, right?

One of the first things I come up with for mpregs is the excuse for how it happens. The best thing about stories with lots of magic in them is that you can just say "A spell did it". So that's what happened.

The very first idea was that Jeral was going to cast the spell when he did, then Urtear would get hit in the head by a chunk of debris while Natsu was going nuts (if you look back, she did get hit) and her mind control over Jeral would be broken since it was already starting to waiver. When the other people in the tower found out he'd become a good guy who was expecting Erza's kid he was going to be locked up for most of the story, but that left me with no material at all for most of the story. So Jeral got to leave the tower.

Shimon was the one who was all "I don't buy this. I'm with Erza", so I made him force Jeral out. Then, naturally, he had to meet up with Erza. **Then** I planned on him being evil the whole time, and after he had the kid he'd return to the tower and there'd be a second fic where his kid would go out and find his mom and bring Erza and Gerard together.

This is where the name Lume came from. They were originally gonna have a girl named Luna. But I really prefer it when they have boys (since girls are so much more common in mpregs) So I thought "I'll have Erza want a girl named Luna, but when Jeral has a boy he'll name him Lune as a way of keeping… wait… That sounds like a crazy person. I'll use Lume instead."

But I've learned from experience in the Yugioh fandom that sequels with someone's kid aren't that great, and I really wanted to do something with the whole unrequited love thing, so I brought back that whole thing with the brain control being broken by a blow to Urtear's head. Raises the question of why it didn't work the first time (haha). How about the extra couple months were what was needed to make the control weak enough for it to work? Don't like the idea? To bad.

Having him confess as early as he did actually surprised me a lot more than it you… whoever you are actually reading this. I couldn't think of anything better to do right then. Then I had to _try_ and slowly make Erza begin to fall for him while still being really ticked and him being all depressed because she was still ticked. Then when it happened to fast I had him dragged back to the tower to make her really mad. It was around this point that I decided I was actually going to have him arrested.

Note that any idea where I came up with the ending before I was pretty much at the ending got scrapped. I made up just about everything as I went.


End file.
